Fifth Grade
Worksheets
Julie Krone - Female Jockey
A person who rides horses professionally in a race is a jockey. The word jockey comes from a Scottish nickname for John. The word jockey came to mean a "boy" or "fellow." Professional jockeys were always men until the late sixties. In 1968, a woman named Kathy Kusner went to court to become the first licensed female jockey in America. In 1970, Diane Crump became the first woman jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby. That year, several other women jockeys began riding. The first women jockeys were all very successful, but the name at the top of the success list has to be Julie Krone.
Julie Krone was born on July 24, 1963, in Benton Harbor, Michigan. She grew up on a farm along with her brother, Donnie. Her father was an art teacher, and her mother was a horseback-riding instructor. Julie had a natural feel for horses. This became clear when her mother put two-year-old Julie on a horse she was trying to sell. She wanted the buyers to see how gentle the horse was. The horse trotted off, but Julie grabbed the reins and turned the horse around like a pro.
Julie's life on the Krone farm was anything but normal. Her parents let Julie and her brother run wild. The children were pretty much on their own when they weren't in school. Julie won her first riding event when she was five. By the time she was ten years old, she knew that she wanted to become a jockey. She continued to ride and perform tricks on the back of a horse until she was fifteen.
