No braying here

Tommy Francois present’s his award winning cutting mule, Miss Lucy, at his ranch in Canton.

Mule takes top checks, prizes in cutting competitions

Standing at 13.1 hands high, 5-year old Miss Lucy the mule is taking prize purses and top checks in t cutting horse competitions. Miss Lucy is a “freak of nature,” according to her owner Tommy Francois.

Francois, 76, of Canton has been training and showing Miss Lucy with his wife Ruby throughout the state and beyond. 

“This mule is a freak of nature. I’ve never started a horse that learned as quick as this mule. A mule is not supposed to have the cow sense that Miss Lucy has or the ability to read a cow like she does.  Normally it would take a cutting horse 14 to 16 months to get to where she’s at.” 

Francois added that Miss Lucy has been training for only four months and she is winning competitions and the hearts of spectators.

First introduced to Miss Lucy on a trail ride in Medina with his brother Ronney, Francois joked that Miss Lucy “wasn't big enough to saddle,” and “if she won’t get in the trailer, just pick her up and put her in the back of the truck.” His brother reassured Francois that Miss Lucy could “carry him all day long.  “She carried him all day long, and it made a big impression on me,” Francois said. 
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