It started this summer, and so it has nothing to do with having kindergarten friends who take riding lessons. But otherwise, we are unable to account for the intensity of the kid's current horse-and-unicorn fixation.
The one bright spot is that we won't have to worry about buying Struts Runway Magic Ponies, introduced by Playmates Toys in the Spring of 2008. Whether it was because of the immediate public uproar over the vapid, oversexualized, body image disorder-inducing My Slutty Little Pony knockoffs, or just because someone woke up to what a #$*%ing stupid and awful idea these were, by 2009, all the Struts had been taken out behind the Fisher-Price barn and shot.
If you want to painlessly relive the outrage and demand that Struts be banished to the same kidwarping hell as Baby Bratz and Club Libby Lu, you can follow along on Princess Sparkle Pony's hilarious blog. Looks like good times.
Mar '08: PSP Worried about Slutty New Pony Rivals [sparklepony, thanks abe]
More Pictures of the Wonderful New My Little Slutty Pony Toys
Jul. '09: UPDATE: These Whorses are Ready for the Glue Factory
Thank goodness my horse doesn't have to grow up thinking these unrealistic horse body images are ideal...
I think it might be something all 5 year old girls go through. My now 8 year old is still pretty obsessed and has a collection from Breyer. I remember going through the same phase but then I had a real horse so that may have been part of it.