Hattie Francis
Harriet “Hattie” Francis (1955-2022) was a life-long fan of the American Saddlebred, attending every show, for many years with Mary Hubbell Avery, and helping shows and horse-related events to become successful by volunteering for all jobs, big and small, clean and dirty! She was an advocate for the Saddlebred in all disciplines and therefore, when the opportunity to serve VERSA as its Treasurer, she willingly accepted that role as well. She finally achieved her goal of owning and showing her own Saddlebred, purchasing I Mac (aka “Sister”), a bay western pleasure mare who had been trained by Carol Jones, in 2016. Sister had been shown very successfully in western pleasure and trail before Hattie purchased her, but when the Ranch division became more widely featured in shows in the Midwest, Hattie, Sister, and Sister’s then-trainer, Brenda Benner focused their attention on this division, for which Sister was uniquely qualified. Even as Hattie courageously battled with her cancer diagnosis, she showed Sister in Ranch classes, her smile radiating from across the arena.
When Hattie died in 2022, her family asked that donations be made in her memory to VERSA. The VERSA Board voted unanimously that those funds be used to sponsor the trophy in the Ranch Rail Championship at the Monarch National Championship Horse Show, held in Springfield, Illinois. Every year since, the VERSA Board has continued to support this endeavor, which not only honors Hattie’s dedication to the breed, but acknowledges the versatility of the American Saddlebred horse.
