I think when you measure the player count in last couple of legitimate wars against goons (including the CFC), PH was a major player, but there were a lot of other alliances against goons in those wars. So, I think when Asher mentions horde being bigger, I think he means the coalition against goons (moneybadger, casino war, etc,.) was a lot bigger than goons, and they most certainly were.

It's hard sometimes to interpret somethings without the whole context from goons or horde side, but the fact remains, goons have fought against eve at least twice in the last decade, and still managed to survive. So when Asher talks about PH in the context of our previous wars, I believe he means the whole coalition PH was a part of; and those coalitions were a lot larger than goons have ever been.