I have to admit, a little sheepishly, that I still get pretty darn excited about things from my youth. Who doesn’t fondly remember The Smurfs, Pretty Pretty Princess, POGS, Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Rainbow Bright, Strawberry Shortcake and Dinosaur? Of course, there’s one thing that makes me squeal like a Justin Bieber tween fan whenever I see them: My Little Pony.

I mean, come on! What horse-crazy little girl didn’t love My Little Ponies? I had a whole collection of blue ones, pink ones, winged ones, horned ones, fuzzy velvet ones, and even one that had a tail that grew when you pulled on it! (You had to twist its head back and forth to bring the tail back into the body, which, in retrospect, was a little disturbing.)

I even had Paradise Estates! Many hours were spent cantering those ponies around and around the pink manor house, and many more hours slipped away while I was glued to the TV screen, catching up on episodes of the show and then, much to my extreme delight, the full length movie.

In August of 1981, Hasbro Industries filed for a patent (U.S. #D269986) for “an ornamental design for a toy animal.” The patent was granted in August of 1983. Inventors Bonnie D. Zacherle of Norwood, Mass., Charles Muenchinger of Providence, R.I., and Steven D. D’Aguanno of Greenville, R.I., came up with the concept.

The ponies were first produced in 1981, but they weren’t the familiar vinyl models. They were about 10 inches in height, made out of hard plastic and dubbed “My Pretty Pony.” The first vinyl model was mass-produced in 1983.

The first generation of ponies (called G1 by collectors) ran from 1983-1995 (1992 in the United States) and originally featured only six ponies. They were all considered “Earth” ponies, in that they had no wings or horns, and they came with brushable manes and tails, a ribbon, a comb and their own individual symbol on their flanks.  They also had flat feet, which would eventually be replaced by more horse-like, concave molds.

Pegasus, Unicorn, Rainbow and Sea Ponies followed the original six ponies, as well as Flutter Ponies, Windy Wing, Summer Wing, Sea Ponies and Big Brother Ponies, which were male, featuring feathers, much like draft horses. Rainbow Ponies were produced beginning in 1983, and So-Soft Ponies, Twinkle-Eyed Ponies, Twice As Fancy Ponies and Brush N’ Grow Ponies quickly followed. In total, the company created about 692 different ponies in the G1 line.

In 1992, Hasbro released the last My Little Ponies from the G1 line. There were 11 different types of pony and were created in honor of the brand’s 10^th anniversary. The company tried to re-release My Little Ponies from 1997-1999, but they were sporting a different appearance and feel, and they were discontinued due to lack of popularity.

But as they say, third time is a charm, and when Hasbro tried again in 2003, they hit a home run. This new line of ponies (G3) is much similar to the original line, but each model had its own individual story line and merchandise.

In addition to the toys, My Little Ponies starred in their own cartoon series, the first of which was Rescue At Midnight Castle, which debuted in 1984. The full-length movie, My Little Pony: The Movie came out in 1986.

Even though the movie featured the voices of Danny DeVito, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Rhea Perlman and Tony Randall, it only made about $6 million in ticket sales. Of course, to My Little Pony fans everywhere, the movie was EPIC.

In fact, I’m pretty sure I watched the copy that my mom recorded off the TV onto a VHS tape so many times that I burnt out the reels and drove her crazy. Not sure which happened first.

A few months ago I was walking through Toys R’ Us with my boyfriend, and when we rounded the corner I came across a rack of DVDs. I started to go through them, and of course, shrieked in delight when I discovered My Little Pony cartoons AND the movie on DVD. I bought them immediately, much to my boyfriend’s total embarrassment.

The My Little Pony TV series followed the movie, which promoted many of the pony models that were released between 1986 and 1987.  Still another series, My Little Pony Tales was created a few years later, but the story line was very different from the original series, which took place in Dream Valley. After a long hiatus from television, the series reappeared in 2003, which starred the G3 ponies and involved yet another storyline. The first season of the original My Little Pony series was released on DVD in 2004, with more seasons released in the next two years.

In 2006 My Little Pony Live began touring the country with a 90-minute musical. I missed out on tickets (darn!), but I bet it was whimsical for the kids that attended.

I still have my My Little Pony collection. Every once in a while my mom will call me and ask if she can throw out the bin full of dusty, well-loved ponies. And every time she asks, I passionately declare that those are priceless memorabilia from my childhood and in no way, shape or form should she consider divesting my closet of their presence!

I think she’s figured out by now that I just haven’t grown up yet.

One of web writer Coree Reuter’s favorite parts of working at The Chronicle of the Horse is adventuring up into the attic. While it’s occasionally a journey that requires a head lamp, GPS unit and dust mask, nearly 75 years of the equine industry is documented in the old issues and photographs that live above the offices, and Coree is determined to unearth the great stories of the past. Inspired by the saying: “History was written on the back of a horse,” she hopes to demystify the legends, find new ones and honor the horses who have changed the scope of everyday life with this blog.

Curious about anything in particular? Have a question or an interesting topic? Please e-mail Coree, she’d love to hear from you!