West Gippsland Zone PCAV

Pony Club was formed in Great Britain in 1929 when the Institute of the Horse formed a youth branch of their organisation, “The Pony Club. ” It was formed to encourage children to start riding, while providing them with opportunities in the field that they would not be able to reach on their own. The group grew rapidly, from 300 members in 1930, to over 10,000 in 1935. When the Institute of the Horse joined with National Horse Association of Great Britain to create The British Horse Society, Pony Club was incorporated in the new group.

The success of Pony Club in Britain sparked the formation of Pony Clubs in other nations, such that there are now over 100,000 Pony Club members worldwide. Australia has the largest pony club membership in the world with just under 55,000 financial members.

The Pony Club Association of Victoria, commonly abbreviated as PCAV, is the controlling body for Pony Clubs in Victoria where young people can ride and learn all disciplines of equestrian sports. The Association co-ordinates, develops and promotes horsemanship inVictoria and is committed to providing a high standard of instruction for its members.

Children and young adults to the age of 25 learn the skills of riding and general horsemanship and compete in local events, but can also go on to compete at state, national and international events. Horse riding is one of the few sports were males and females compete on equal terms.

Victoria has about 210 incorporated pony clubs. Each club is organised and arranged separately, with clusters of clubs managed by pony club zone committees. Each zone has a president, delegate to the state council (state councillor), secretary, treasurer, vice president and a chief instructor. Chief instructors supervise and encourage the instruction policy within the Zone.

Each Zone sends Councillors to Association meetings to help determine general policy.

In each Zone there are as many as 30 different Pony Clubs.