The Clark County Executive Horse Council (CCEHC) paused its regular meeting Tuesday night at Prairie Tavern to honor someone who has shaped the local horse community for decades.
Fran Duncan, 92, was presented with the council’s first-ever lifetime achievement award on March 3.
The honor was kept a surprise until CCEHC President Tyler Castle called her forward.
Duncan has served as board president of the Clark County Executive Horse Council, the Clark County Saddle Club and the Washington Trail Riders Association. She currently serves as secretary of the Clark County Saddle Club and leads its trail course activities. Castle said those events would not have been possible without her leadership. She also continues to coordinate sponsorships for equine medals and awards at the Clark County Fair through 4-H, personally contacting local businesses to support the effort.
The moment was unexpected for Duncan.
“(I’m) really delighted and I certainly didn't expect anything, but this is a first for them and for me,” Duncan said.
In the week leading up to the award, Duncan said she was flooded with Facebook comments and messages from former students and members of the local horse community, many of whom she had not heard from in years.
Duncan taught in Clark County for more than two decades, including at Columbia River High School, Jason Lee Junior High School and Hudson’s Bay High School before retiring in 1999. Before moving to Washington in 1976, she taught in Florida and built a career that spanned more than 40 years in the classroom.
Long before she became a fixture in the local horse world, Duncan worked for the Central Intelligence Agency from 1955 to 1957, traveling throughout Latin America and parts of Europe during the height of the Cold War. That chapter of her life, combined with her years teaching world history, psychology and sociology, has become part of the lore former students still talk about today.
The council, founded in 1984, has traditionally presented annual awards such as horseman or horsewoman of the year. This was the first time it created a lifetime recognition, according to Castle.
Castle said the inspiration behind the new award grew naturally from Duncan’s decades of involvement in Clark County’s equine organizations, including the Clark County Saddle Club and 4-H programs connected to the Clark County Fair.
“She's very, very dedicated. She's known for her dedication and commitment, for following through and her persistence,” Castle said.
He said that reputation is widely shared in the local horse world.
“She is one of the most persistent members of any group that I can think of. When she is given a task, she follows through with it and will just stay on top of it,” Castle said.
Castle first met Duncan as a student at Jason Lee Junior High School in 1986, where she was his teacher. Decades later, he now serves alongside her in the horse community.
“I am so pleased that it moved her, and (that) she was surprised and enjoyed the accolade… being noticed for her past efforts, and that really filled my heart, knowing her for all these years,” Castle said. “We're contemporaries and working alongside her. It just makes me very happy to see her happy. This (attention) is well deserved.”
Duncan remains active in the Clark County Saddle Club and the broader horse council, with a trail course event scheduled and continued work underway to install permanent trail obstacles at the club grounds. The club’s next outdoor course is scheduled for 8 a.m. May 16 at the club’s location at 11407 NE 174th St., Battle Ground. Readers can learn more by contacting clarkcountysaddleclub@yahoo.com.
