Formerly the organisation was structured into branches, clubs and areas but now the areas, including the Otago Southland one, are being dissolved.
Past and present committee members of the Otago Southland Area Pony Club met last month for a special general meeting at Balclutha where the motion was passed to wind up the area.
Previous area president Charlotte Young, of Mosgiel, said the New Zealand Pony Club Association (NZPCA) took the opportunity to restructure the organisation when it was required by a law change to update its constitution.
‘‘Essentially, what they decided to do was to take out a layer.’’
The Otago Southland area will now be split into three regions; Central Otago, Southern and Coastal Otago.
It made sense to take out the area level for many of the areas as they were small in geographical size, she said.
Otago Southland is the biggest area geographically and ranged from Waikouaiti to Invercargill to Lake Hawea and everywhere in between.
Members were invited to give feedback and voted in favour of the change.
‘‘Change is ever constant and the only constant, and I think this is a wonderful opportunity for the young parents to step up and make the new vision run.’’
Three generations of her family had been involved with pony club which was a great way to train young riders, she said.
The organisation was facing the challenge many sports were to attract members, she said.
‘‘It is very hard for sports bodies to continue to compete and be relevant.’’
Immediate past president Jayne Beer, of Mossburn, said she was one of a handful of the ‘‘old guard’’ who had been part of pony club most of their lives and helped run events at the area level.
These long-standing members were disappointed the Otago Southland area had been dissolved, she said.
‘‘It’s like they’re [NZPCA] trying to fix something that wasn’t broken, and it really didn’t need to happen.
‘‘Otago Southland was the best running region there was.
‘‘We are the biggest, geographically and that’s why we made it work, because we had such obstacles like that.’’
The events run by the area committee including the pony camp had been a great way for members to connect, she said.
‘‘Hopefully they’ll still do that in their regions.’’
