BILLINGS, MT – A true all-around cowboy, Hank Franzen began his rodeo career at an early age. He earned the National Little Britches Bareback and All-Around titles at a young age, was a three-time Montana State High School All-Around Champion, and went on to win both the National Intercollegiate Bull Riding and All-Around Championships. Franzen still holds the collegiate record, winning 13 All-Around l titles, including nine consecutive.
Recently, the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall & Wall of Fame (MPRHWF) singled him out for the Rodeo Achievement Award for his college rodeo career as a bull rider where he won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo in 1978, rodeoing for Casper College.
Hank Franzen has enjoyed a competitive rodeo career that spans decades and showcases his versatility across multiple events. A true all-around cowboy, he earned the National Little Britches Bareback and All-Around titles at a young age, was a three-time Montana State High School All-Around Champion, and went on to win both the National Intercollegiate Bull Riding and All-Around Championships. Hank still holds the collegiate record, winning 13 All-Around titles, including nine consecutively.
He’s held a PRCA card since the age of 20 and came close to qualifying for the NFR multiple times, narrowly missing due to injuries. Hank competed at both the Montana and Badlands Circuit Finals numerous times.
He turned his passion for rodeo into a lifelong business. Together with his wife, Lori, he founded Powder River Rodeo, LLC, now celebrating 40 years in business. Powder River has been honored as one of the top five firms with 12 nominations for the prestigious PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year award and has produced nine PRCA World Champion animals of the year. The company was named WPRA Stock Contractor of the Year in 2013 and received the Remuda Award in 2019 for excellence in bucking stock.
With 30 NFR go-round wins, 15 Top Stock of the NFR placings (1st–3rd), and 125 awards across the Mountain States Circuit, Wilderness Circuit, DNCFR, and Tour Rodeos, Hank’s impact on the sport is undeniable.
Hank and Lori credit much of their success to the support and involvement of their family: daughter Jill Franzen Loden, her husband Brandon Loden, and their son Holden Henry Loden; as well as son John Henry Franzen, his wife Cara Franzen, and their son Blue Henry Franzen. Hank and Lori will celebrate 46 years of marriage this November.
Their breeding program produced Khadafy Skoal, a three-time world champion, inducted into the PRCA Fall of Fame in 2021. Another Franzen great, Miss Congeniality, was a two-time world champion and Craig at Midnight was the 2016 world champion.
The Franzens have established themselves as one of the most recognized and awarded firms within the PRCA. Their commitment to excellence has been recognized by the industry with Franzen’s induction in to the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2012 and recipients of the prestigious PRCA Remuda Award (2019).