[3] She begged her parents and created a detailed plan working odd jobs here and there to save money in order to help fund the purchase of her first pony.
[6] On February 7, 1969, Crump became the first woman to compete as a professional jockey in a pari-mutuel race in the United States.
[5] There was so much hostility to a woman riding in a horse race that she needed a police escort to get to the track, taking her through an angry crowd of shouting people.
Crump reflects on that experience, recalling that her excitement surrounding this incredible opportunity enabled her to ignore the toxic environment of the crowd and aggressively negative attitudes of the male jockeys, trainers and owners.
Kusner had previously been denied a jockey's license because of her gender and although she won her case in October 1968 and was granted a license, she suffered an injury soon after that prevented her from competing, allowing Crump to step forward and assume the responsibilities of a revolutionary female jockey.
While Crump was granted the jockey's license in 1968, she continued to face sexist rules, regulations and personal harassment as she attempted to further her career in horse racing.
[10] Crump won the first race on the undercard that day, and then on a horse named Fathom, came in 15th in a 17-horse field in the Derby.
[13] On February 1, 1989, Crump suffered a broken leg, ankle and ribs from a riding accident and was hospitalized for ten days.
[14] When Crump retired for a time in 1985, and beginning in 1991 continuously, she worked as a trainer for a small stable of horses at the Middleburg Training Center in Virginia.
[7] In 2020, a biography, Diane Crump: A Horse Racing Pioneer's Life in the Saddle, by Mark Shrager, was published by Lyons Press.
[16][17] In 1985 she took her first break from riding, in order to put down roots in one place as her young daughter at the time was about to begin school.