Four minutes into the “My Little Pony” episode of “The Toys That Made Us”, a Netflix documentary series about popular toys, Maurene Souza, former VP of Marketing at Hasbro’s Girl’s division, says “there really wasn’t a girl’s division”, referring to the lack of toys at Hasbro aimed at young girls specifically in the 1970s. They had found success with boys’ toys and with some games, but were looking to expand their reach during a recession in the United States. They first attempted a larger pony as a toy for toddlers, as Hasbro had little success in the girls’ toys market. Bonnie Zacherle, former illustrator in research and development at Hasbro, stated that “little girls love horses” in that same episode. My Pretty Pony was then born, and it is the predecessor of MLP, and it found little success, though it showed that there was some interest in this style of play. MLP was essentially a My Pretty Pony with smaller and softer bodies, which also improves its collectability along with introducing small differences between each pony. The ad below stresses the importance of softness in the early marketing of MLP.
Bonnie, in pointing out little girls’ love of horses, was bringing to light a very real phenomenon: horse girls. Horse girl is a term attributed to girls and young women who prioritize horses in their lives. This could a fixation with images of horses, or even becoming a proficient rider. Although no direct studies have been done, and there is no evidence of overlap between MLP play and becoming a horse girl later on, their behaviors mirror each other in at least one key way. Brushing the body of a horse is part of traditional horse handling to decrease emotional reactivity, making it a regular occurrence for those who come in contact with horses (Fureix, C., et al., 2009). The parallel here lies in the expectation of care for the MLP toys’ hair by the girls playing with it.
Despite the initial desire by Bonnie to keep the ponies closer to real ponies by doing natural color, they were given fantasy colors. This, in turn, allowed children to break free from any expectations of what a horse or pony would realistically do, and instead encouraged creative and innovative play, according to the aforementioned participants of the Netflix documentary. The softness of the toys, also covered in this article, have a similar effect in distancing the toy from the real experiences of handling horses and ponies.