Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racing jockey Julie Krone rose to the pinnacle of her sport without forgetting the simple joys of a childhood with horses. “When I was young, there was nothing more fun for me than any accomplishment with my pony, no matter how small,” Julie recalls. Those memories and the inspiration of having her own child, Lorelei, in 2005, are the catalysts for Julie’s Horse Camp, which debuts this summer at Skydance Ranch in San Diego County’s Oceanside.
The week-long experience for horse-crazy pre-teens will offer various activities catering to any kid’s wildest equestrian dreams. There will be days spent learning about horses and ponies from the ground up. Formal lessons will be given in Skydance’s beautiful arena and campers will ride through some of North County’s scenic mountain trails. A sure highlight will be a trip to the races at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, where Julie will take her campers behind the scenes of America’s most picturesque Thoroughbred track. The visit will start with the early morning activities of famous racehorses and end with an afternoon spent hanging out with a room full of all-star jockeys.
“When I was competing, they used to call me the Pied Piper because of all the kids who trailed along behind me at the racetrack,” Julie recalls. “I’d loved them, and loved spending time listening to their personal stories.”
Julie’s affinity for kids is rivaled only by her affinity for horses. Throughout her 22-year career as a jockey, she was famous for quickly reading the personality of a horse in the heat of a helter-skelter race. Today, she is furthering her knowledge by training to become a Parelli Natural Horsemanship certified instructor. This adds on to a lifetime with horses, starting with her youth on a farm in Michigan.
Julie won more than 3,700 races at tracks throughout North America. Thoroughbred racing is a widely diverse sport, with no formal organization or leagues. For Krone, though, it did not matter. She rose to the top everywhere she rode, earning riding championships at Gulfstream Park in Miami, Belmont Park in New York, and at all three major tracks in New Jersey.
In her final season of competition, she was leading rider in terms of prize money at the prestigious summer meet at Del Mar, where she won the 2003 Pacific Classic aboard the Argentinian horse Candy Ride, owned by Rancho Santa Fe residents Sid and Jenny Craig.
Julie became a mainstream celebrity, in part because she was a woman successfully competing head-to-head against men. At one time or another, she would pop up as a guest of David Letterman or Johnny Carson, as an ABC News “Person of the Week,” as part of a category on Jeopardy, or as a guest of President George H.W. Bush at the White House.
Julie’s honors include an Espy Award from ESPN as 1993 Professional Female Athlete of the Year and similar recognition from the Women’s Sports Foundation as both Athlete of the Year and the winner of the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award. In 1999, Julie was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, TX, alongside Annie Oakley and Dale Evans. And, in 2000, she became the first woman elected to the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, NY.
As both a retired athlete and a mother, Julie is inspired to express her love and knowledge of horses in new and positive ways. The theme of Julie’s Horse Camp will capture the spirit of adventure in the company of horses. Her campers will never be surprised when Julie asks, “What shall we do now?”
Reflecting on her own childhood, Julie fondly recalls big and small accomplishments with her ponies and horses. “That’s the kind of thing I want to share with my campers,” she says. “No matter what their level of riding ability, they can have memorable triumphs.”
For more information on Julie’s Horse Camp, call Julie Krone at 760-431-5611 or e-mail her at eyelovehorses@aol.com.