Sunday, October 07, 2007

Horse Diving School



I first came across the concept of horse diving last evening when some friends brought up the movie "Wild Hearts Can't be Broken" about a horse diver who lost her sight in a dive, but continued to dive without it. It was initially described to me as somewhat of a sport where a rider rode a horse off a high dive, and into a small pool of water. Wild vision of uptight crowds, and harsh judges flooded my mind, evaluating the panicked fall of the graceful animals, that I don't imagine take to freefall too well. I was eventually calmed down, and came to understand that it was more of a sideshow attraction. Specifically on Atlantic City's Steel Pier.

The concept was allegedly invented by William "Doc" Carver in 1881 when his horse fell off a bridge in Nebraska into the water below. I guess he enjoyed it, so he developed it into an act. His son Al Carver built a large ramp for the trained horses to "dive" off of. His daughter Lorena Carver was the first rider, but was joined by her sister in law, Sonora Webster Carver in 1924. Sonora is the famed blind horse diver, who lost her sight when she hit the water with her eyes open in 1931 and detached both of her retinas. Sonora continued diving until 1942, when the spectacle fell largely out of favor with the public and various animal rights groups for various, but obvious reasons.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I thought you might be interested...The High Diving Horse act at Steel Pier continued long after Sonora stopped diving. I worked at Steel Pier during the 1960's and the act was still going strong then. I know it also continued into the 1970s, as a friend of mine was doing the diving at that time. The horses were treated very well, better than some people in fact. I do remember various animal rights groups complaining about certain acts on the pier, so I'm sure the diving horse performances came to an end as a result. It was a fabulous place to work during my college summers - an experience I will never forget.

Anonymous said...

One more piece of information...I believe that Steel Pier closed in the 1970s when the casinos were starting to open in Atlantic City. The owner of the pier sold it, so the animal rights groups may not have been the demise of the diving horse act after all. After that closing, the pier did open again, mainly as an amusement ride facility.

I also just read the following article in the CourierPostOnline (http://www.courierpostonline.com/ac150/m062804g.htm) dated Monday, June 28, 2004 and written by WILFORD S. SHAMLIN...

"Anthony Catanoso, 46, and his three brothers - Chuck, Bill and Joe - reopened the pier on Memorial Day in 1993, with 16 rides and 12 skill games, and brought back the diving horse act.

In the new version, the pony (no rider) plunged 30 feet into a 12-foot tank of water. But Trump, who leases the pier to the Catanosos, asked them to cancel the act after one season, at the behest of animal rights activists.

"The more they picketed, the better the crowds were," Catanoso recalled. He called accusations of animal cruelty "outlandish" and said the pony was treated well.

Thanks for the opportunity for me to post here. - phillygal.

Anonymous said...

Just a point of clarification...On the post that says, "anonymous," it was actually from me, phillygal. I tried to log back on to leave the additional comment, but it wouldn't take my password. I'm sure I had it right, so I'm not sure what happened. Oh, well!

Anonymous said...

Venice Beach, California had its diving horse, a tragic one.

A newspaper account, posted by historian Jeffrey Stanton:

"July 2 1927
Diving horse dead, Show cancelled.
"Lightening" the prize show animal of entire troupe was drowned. Horse was making practice jumps without a rider into the surf from a 40 foot tower on Lick Pier. The horse became confused and swam out to sea. Half-dozen lifeguards rescued him by swimming out 500 yards into ocean and buoyed him up with life saving cans on every side. He was brought to shore but couldn't be resuscitated. Carver's daughter was distraught. Horse worth $20,000.

http://www.westland.net/venicehistory/articles/accidents.htm

Anonymous said...

Hi. I love the movie Wild hearts cant be broken. It is now my favorite movie and I want to learn more abour horse diving. I getting the book by sonora A girl and Five Brave HOrses. Without the movie and info on the internet, I would have never found somthing i am interested in so much!

Anonymous said...

dude that is cool omg this issac

Anonymous said...

wild hearts cant be broken is a great movie

Agent M. said...

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken is a romantic Disney film. I remember thinking Gabrielle Anwar was a face we'd be seeing a lot of after watching it. Sadly, she turned into a B-movie gal (still not a bad way to earn a paycheck).

It's been over a decade since I saw the film, and I think the animal lover in me has grown too tender to watch it now. I hear you, other posters, "they were treated quite well," but they didn't have a choice. If people are frightened to do it, why wouldn't the horses be? And wouldn't the water surface impact hurt their skin?

Wow, I haven't thought about this in years. I'm glad they stopped doing it.

=^.^=

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