Pinehurst Jockey Retires Due to Race Relations with Native Dancer

December 3, 2022

Moore County local Jockey Russell Shoemaker struck a nerve in the equestrian community when he and his horse Native Dancer no longer seemed to work well with one another.  Native Dancer, owned by the Pinehurst Haybarn Equestrian Community has been known to give tough competition to the other horses in its class, but on Saturday the horse was parked while Shoemaker was rushed to the hospital.  The balance between a horse and rider on a track must be perfect, but for a six-foot-five-inch jockey, a miniature horse is anything but perfect.  Most professional jockeys reach a maximum height of five and a half feet, so it was no question why Shoemaker was so top-heavy while on Native Dancer, striking a nerve in his leg, leading to an immediate fracture when he toppled off the miniature horse.  In the derby world, watching the thousand-pound Thoroughbreds race around the track can be viewed as the greatest two minutes in sports.  For this reason, Pinehurst thought it would be entertaining to create a special grade class where miniature horses would compete in the most hilarious seven minutes in sports. The community will decide in January whether to continue this idea or not, hoping to avoid any further injuries from occurring. If the races are discontinued, they have stated that there will be a jousting tournament to take its place, because it would be extremely funny to watch people joust on miniature horses.