NEWS RELEASE June 20, 2025
Lifetime pony club member still cuts it
Crestmead, Queensland (20 June, 2025) — Pony Clubs have long been the backbone of Australia's equestrian landscape, offering people from all walks of life the opportunity to build confidence and skills while creating lifelong friendships — all through a shared love of horses.
They are often the first step toward a professional career in equestrian sport, but for others pony clubs are a cherished part of growing up, instilling important values such as responsibility, discipline, teamwork and animal welfare.
From small remote and rural regional towns to the urban fringes of major cities, pony clubs bring together families, nurture leadership and mentoring opportunities that foster a strong spirit of volunteering among parents and supporters.
For Ian Henderson, the Greenbank Pony Club, 30 kilometres south of Brisbane, has been part of his life for the past 35 years. Now a life member, the veteran horseman has a colourful history in the saddle, from stock riding and camp drafting through to competitive equestrian events, and now as a club instructor, judge and show jump course builder.
While he doesn't compete anymore, Ian still has horses, and said his love for all things equine has been passed through the generations.
"I used to breed Quarter Horses, and then my two daughters wanted to get into show jumping and dressage, so we bought Thoroughbreds," he said.
"Both daughters were pretty involved in the club back in the day, with my eldest, Amanda competing up until a few years ago, and she's now getting back into it after having children.
"She's just bought a horse so her eight-year-old daughter, Willow, can learn to ride and attend pony club as well, so it's come full circle in the family."
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Ian uses John Deere equipment to keep the Pony Club’s event area in good shape. Pictured with daughter Amanda, granddaughter Willow, & horse Charlie.
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Greenbank Pony Club has been part of Ian Henderson’s life for the past 35 years.
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Ian uses a John Deere ZTrak™ Z355E Zero-Turn mower to keep the grass pristine for competitions.
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Ian with a 4-Series tractor, which he uses with a four-in-one bucket to move soil or remove broken trees, & with a slasher to cut longer grass.
Ian is a jack of all trades around the club. Aside from his role as an instructor, judge and show jump course builder, he's also one of the few members involved in the upkeep and presentation of the property and for that his chosen mounts are from the John Deere stable.
"We have a range of John Deere equipment including a 4-Series tractor, a ZTrak™ Z355E Zero-Turn mower and a ride on mower," Ian said.
"We use the tractor with a four-in-one bucket to move soil around or remove broken trees, and we also have a slasher we attach to keep the grass down.
"If we are hosting a competition, we will go over the grass with our Zero-Turn mower to make it much neater," he said.
"In addition to our sand-covered dressage arena, we also have two grass dressage arenas, which we restored last year by digging up the grass, installing a different type of sand and then returfing.
"It's important it is pristine for competitions, so we only use the Zero-Turn mower for best results, and it's looking really good now."
Like many recreational sporting clubs, Greenbank Pony Club has experienced a drop in numbers over the past few years as people adjusted their spending to meet cost-of-living pressures, but Ian said numbers were on the rise again.
"Where we are located on the urban fringes of Brisbane, we've seen a lot of acreage disappear, and people are now travelling from further away," he said.
"We are about to launch an introductory course for people who are interested in horses, and who don't yet have their own horse, which is a general requirement for pony club.
"This is a great way to learn the basics about horses before making the commitment, and from the number of enquiries we've had about the program, it looks like it will be successful.
"At our latest committee meeting, we also saw a rise in membership, which is a positive sign that more people are eager to get involved in horses and the equestrian sport that has meant so much to me throughout my life."
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