[1] In 1928 British lifestyle magazine Country Life published Golden Gorse's The Young Rider which went to a second edition in 1931, and a third in 1935.
In the preface to the third edition, the author wrote: "Since then the outlook on children and their ponies has changed very much for the better."
[3] The pony book genre is "frequently deemed idealistic,"[4] "cater[ing] for those typical fantasies of perfect friendship with an idealized companion.
[6] A 2009 article posed whether readers of pony-series fiction could do more than simply get another book in the series, much as a young collector of My Little Pony toys would be compelled to add to their collection.
[2] The article noted an alternative view of the value of pony fiction; it introduces young readers to wider literature.