There’s another horse in the equestrian media race, as a pony trainer, competitor and breeder from Loxahatchee has launched a new magazine that arrived last week.
Audrey Maschue, who owns a small dressage training and sales stable called Xanadu Dressage in Loxahatchee, has been eagerly anticipating the introduction of Pony Quarterly to pony lovers everywhere this month. Its inaugural issue was published Oct. 17.
“As I became more and more involved in breeding, importing and training ponies, it became obvious that the competition pony industry was an underserved, very passionate community that needed a voice,” Maschue said. “Ponies are no longer the short, hairy, stubby-legged little ‘Fellwell’ pony ridden by little kids. They can be as fancy as the big warmbloods, and just as athletic and competitive.”
Maschue said that ponies nowadays often are ridden or driven by adults who have ambitious goals in competitive arenas, many on an international stage. So she decided to fill the void by creating and publishing Pony Quarterly, a magazine devoted to celebrating and supporting the lifestyle of show ponies and their owners.
“Pony Quarterly’s goal is to be the source of news, education and support for the pony market,” Maschue said. “My vision for Pony Quarterly was to produce a newsstand-quality magazine that was sophisticated, with interesting, professional articles covering topics that our readers would find educational, inspirational and exciting — something not just for kids, but for adults, too.”
The magazine will follow its debut with engaging issues every three months that will have approximately 40 pages of information and stories about the world of competitive ponies.
“Not only does Pony Quarterly cover ponies in the hunter/jumper, driving, eventing and dressage arenas, but we also want to showcase the lifestyle as well. We will feature prominent breeders, artists, trainers and competitors so the readers can get to learn a little about their lives, and how ponies have given them inspiration,” Maschue explained.
Besides the quarterly printed magazine, Pony Quarterly will also have an online presence.
“Although the magazine is our focus,” Maschue said, “we wanted to develop integrated platforms for sharing ideas, experiences and offering support to one another. We have seven bloggers on our web site already who share with us their ups, downs, advice and inspiration on a regular basis.”
Stories can be found at www.ponyq.com and www.facebook.com/ponyquarterly.
The staff’s love for ponies, competing and the equestrian community doesn’t stop at their new publication.
“Giving back to the community we serve is something we feel very strongly about,” Maschue said. “Not only have we sponsored many pony awards at various shows around the country, but we are always developing new ideas for promoting and drawing attention to the pony community.”
When not publishing ponies in her magazine, Maschue is personally involved in the pony industry with her own foals. “I am looking forward to campaigning them and offering them to the pony market as they get older. I am super lucky to have some pretty fantastic ponies that compete and win against the ‘big’ boys in open dressage classes around the country,” she said.
For more information about the magazine, visit www.ponyq.com.
ABOVE: The inaugural issue’s cover.