Atlantic City Diving Horses return
The owners of the Atlantic City Steel Pier in New Jersey have announced the return of a show that features horses and riders diving into the sea from a 40ft platform. The shows were popular in the early 20th Century, but they stopped in 1978 and a previous attempt to resurrect the shows in the 1990s failed.
The shows began in the 1920s after a Dr W. F. Carver was caught in an accident in which a bridge collapsed under him while he was riding a horse and both he and the horse fell 40ft into a raging river. Fortunately, both were able to reach the shore without injury. Carver's daughter-in-law, Sonora Webster Carver, achieved great renown as a horse diver and continued diving despite being blinded in a diving accident in 1931. Her experiences later inspired the 1991 Disney Film 'Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken'. This summer, the diving horses will be ridden by stunt riders.
Speaking to local press, Steel Pier President Anthony Catanoso said “Nobody can show us any documentation that the diving horse act here on Steel Pier ever harmed an animal, ever produced any kind of cruelty or abuse. We would not do that."
“We know the diving horse is controversial, but I think people need to look at the bigger picture. A diving horse is going to be iconic. It’s going to be a small piece of the development project that will bring family entertainment back to Atlantic City.”
However, the practice has still drawn sharp criticism. President of the Atlantic County Society for the Protection of Animals Nancy Beall said "I think it’s disgusting and I think it’s cruelty to animals. It certainly can’t be safe for the animal."
Footage of early horse diving shows still survives. It can be seen here
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
