H&H interview
The incoming Pony Club chief executive talks to Lucy Higginson about tackling declining membership and why she’s not afraid of change
Pony Club chief executive Rhian Gibson
IDO what I need to behind a desk but I’m very much an outand-about person,” says Rhian Gibson, who takes the reins as the Pony Club’s new chief executive this month. “I hope people will soon see that I’m a doer.”
The Pony Club certainly has lots for her to do. The last CEO, the amiable Pip Kirkby, appointed after a headhunters’ search, resigned 12 months into the job in April last year for largely unexplained reasons. And Pony Club membership is struggling. From a high point of around 44,000 in the early 80s, full membership has been in gradual decline, dropping about 10% in the past five years to just over 26,000, with another 13,000 or so Centre Members on top.
But Centre Membership — a clever idea introduced in 1998 to enable non-pony owners to join a branch based at a riding centre — has variable success, with too few members at some riding schools to support regular rallies or competitions.
AFTER a varied career in journalism and broadcasting, latterly with BBC Wales, Rhian, 51, has for the past five years run Welsh Gymnastics, successfully capitalising
on huge growth in that sport. Her experience there will no doubt stand her in great stead at the Pony Club — both organisations cater for a young, predominantly female audience, with many sub-disciplines and the Olympics the ultimate goal.
“So I know a lot about performance pathways and so on,” she points out, in a rich Welsh accent.
Gymnastics and riding have both been lifelong interests. “I can remember like yesterday the first time I properly sat on a horse, at about five years old,” says Rhian. “I lived in a rural area and they’ve always been a major part of my life.”
But although a keen leisure rider who regularly rides overseas — we speak on her return from a Montana ranching holiday — Rhian has never owned a horse and is the second successive chief executive not to have been a Pony Club member herself.
So how will she persuade other young riders that Pony Club is an indispensable rite of passage?
“We need to look at the areas of membership decline,” she replies. “Is it geographical, is it age, is the decline the same within horse ownership elsewhere? We should be both scientific and anecdotal in the way we gather evidence — people on the ground know what’s happening — but it won’t be a ‘one size fits all’ answer across the UK.”
Clearly she has lots of research to tackle but she sounds eager to progress plans to develop new levels of membership, and adds: “The Centre scheme is an area I would prioritise.
I’ve gathered a lot of information from people who run centres and need to digest it before coming up with a plan.”
Other equestrian bodies at Stoneleigh — such as the British Horse Society — have undergone major restructures lately, and
Rhian won’t be fazed if one is deemed necessary at the Pony Club too.
“Throughout my career, I’ve restructured many a team and done a lot of change management,” she says. “All areas [of Pony Club business] are within the remit. I need to find out what other organisations have done, and what’s worked and what hasn’t and use my own experience to propose ways forward. I’m very open-minded, but I’m very strong in direction.”
SOME parents I know wince at the price of full Pony Club membership — £72, with rallies and the like on top — and Rhian believes “any organisation can improve on communication and accountability” and that the Pony Club, too, could better explain where its fees go.
“More important than cost comparison with other sports is ensuring every member gets value for money and understands why membership costs a certain price. Every bronze member of Welsh Gymnastics knows that £10 of their fees goes towards insurance and administration and that £3.50 goes to developing the sport. I’ve done a lot of work in that area.”
She points out that her media background should benefit the Pony Club too. “Growing the profile of an organisation goes hand in hand with growing the membership.” But this doesn’t necessarily mean BBC TV coverage, she reasons. “Most of our members’ media is selfgenerated — there is work to be done on how we communicate with members, using social media, live streaming and so on.”
Partnerships with regional and other kinds of media can do a lot for your profile too, she adds: “Knowing first-hand what a presenter and producer want is a benefit. Getting the Pony Club out there, to raise its profile is key. Everybody knows what it is, but we have to consolidate and sell the message of what we do, so more people understand what the benefits are. More importantly than anything, it’s fun.”
‘So many children say Pony Club has changed their lives. It stands you in great stead for every part of your life’
FOR years, chairman Mary Tuckwell has perhaps been the most high-profile Pony Club boss. So it’s good to hear Rhian plans to be a very visible chief exec.
“When I first joined Welsh Gymnastics, I went to meet all the clubs, and the main lesson [from that] was how to work with the volunteers, the lifeblood of the organisation,” she explains. “They need to be respected and understand why I would want to go in a certain direction.”
Rhian recognises how much pressure correct governance places on volunteers and is proud of the work she did with them in her last role, setting up reward programmes, bursaries to pay for judge training, for example, and generally raising their profile.
This experience could be invaluable in an organisation with over 300 quite small branches — most have fewer than 100 members — and which is only now on the brink of offering members the option of joining online.
Rhian has a clear notion of what the Pony Club does for young people. “So many children say Pony Club has changed their lives. It stands you in great stead for every part of your life,” she says.
Times may be hard for horse sport, but she exudes determination and commitment, even selling her beloved home in Wales to move to Pony Club HQ in Warwickshire. Let’s hope she never looks back.