User:Loewstisch/Wendy

Wendy is a horse magazine for children aged around seven to eleven. The magazine was first published in Germany in May 1986 with a circulation of 41,000 copies. In the meantime, it was published weekly by Egmont Ehapa Verlag GmbH at a price of usually 2 euros (previously 3 DM). From 1989 it was published fortnightly, from 1996 weekly, from 2009 fortnightly again and since 2016 it has been published tri-weekly and costs 4.20 euros. Each issue comes with extras such as pen sets, jewelry, stickers, accessories and posters. The magazine has constantly evolved, and in the early years the editorial focus was clearly on riding and horses. In the mid-1990s, other topics such as other animal species and active animal protection were added. The magazine can now also be seen as a lifestyle magazine for young, horse-loving girls. Stories featuring the main character Wendy are also published as radio plays, computer games and TV series. A film was made in 2017.

Contents
Most of the magazine consists of the Wendy comic. In it, the title heroine Wendy Thorsteeg and her horses experience numerous adventures. In the early days of the magazine, a self-contained comic was published each time, but since the early 1990s the Wendy Thorsteeg comic has been continued in each issue. The photo story also makes up a large part of the magazine. Most of them are about love, friendship and adventure. Of course, there are also numerous horses in each issue. There are also information pages for readers, where horse breeds are presented, for example.

History
The series started in 1986 with seven issues. In 1987 and 1988 the magazine was published monthly, and from 1989 it was published fortnightly. In 1996, it switched to a weekly publication, and from 2009 Wendy was published fortnightly again; since 2016 it has been available every three weeks. Initially, the main comics in each issue were independent of each other. Occasionally, a short story from the Ulmenhorst riding stable appeared at the end as a page filler.

The character of Wendy Thorsteeg was introduced in 1991 and appeared in every second issue until 1995. Since the end of 1995, there have only been stories with Wendy.

Wendy Thorsteeg is a 15-year-old girl. She owns a Hanoverian mare, Penny, her foal Dorinka, a Hanoverian stallion called Domino, which she had to give up when she found it too much to look after three horses, and a Western mare, Miss Dixie. The horses are kept at Rosenborg Stud, which belongs to Wendy's father Gunnar and her mother Heike. Before Gunnar opened Rosenborg, he owned Lindenhöhe. However, this stud burned down in a fire. A western ranch was later built on the site of the burnt-down stud.

From the 1990s onwards, more and more Wendy products were brought onto the market in Germany. There are now radio plays, books, cases, computer games, films, TV series and a Wendy fashion line.

From the year 2000, only horses were depicted on the cover of the magazine; previously, the covers mostly featured girls with horses.

The magazine is also available in other countries. In Norway, the first issue of the magazine was published in 1994. In Sweden, a new issue is published eight times a year. The magazine is also published in Denmark.