Equestrian fraternity will miss a pioneer

By Kelly Yates
THE pioneer of Tooradin Pony Club, Judith Francis, will be fondly remembered for a lifetime involvement in the Victorian equestrian movement.
Mrs Francis died on 30 April, aged 85, after suffering a stroke.
She was born on 28 March, 1923 at a five-acre property in Toorak. Her father, Charles Edward Bright, was the Victorian Postmaster General and a keen horseman.
In the early 1930s, Mr Bright moved his wife and five girls to a 100-acre property in Mount Eliza.
Mrs Francis and her sisters formed the first women’s polo team, and became known as the ‘Bright Girls’.
Mrs Francis showed promise as an equestrian rider and went on to compete at royal shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.
Also a competitive tennis and hockey player, Mrs Francis played for Toorak College and was awarded dux of the school in her final year.
After school, Mrs Francis travelled to Europe in the early 1950s where she obtained her British horse society instructor’s qualification.
She soon returned to Mt Eliza where she took over her parents’ property and established a popular riding school.
In the late 1950s, Mrs Francis was instrumental in the formation and development of the pony club movement in Victoria, in particular with the creation of the Mornington Peninsula Pony Club, which flourished.
Mrs Francis met her husband Derry Francis and the pair married in 1955.
They had three children, Peter, David and Sally.
In 1966, the couple moved to Tooradin and purchased Tooradin Estate, where they established a riding school and lived happily.
Mrs Francis continued to teach riding until her early eighties and taught thousands of people from raw beginners, royal show champions and those who went on to compete internationally.
Mrs Francis devoted her life and passion to horses and riders, but was also a cricket fan, a talented scrabble player, crossword enthusiast and a keen bridge player.
In 2000, Mrs Francis received an Australian Sports Commission coaching medal from former prime minister John Howard.
Four years later she received the Kay Irving ‘Year of the Coach’ award from Pony Club Australia.
Mr Francis is survived by her three children, their father Derry and her three grandchildren, Tristan, Josephine and Tim.
She devoted her life to horses and horse sports and will be greatly missed by generations of the Australian equestrian fraternity.
She was a teacher, a mother and an inspiration to all who had the privilege of knowing her.