Remembering When Horse Diving Was an Actual ThingFor 50 years, this bizarre act was one of the Atlantic City’s biggest attractions.
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As bizarre, even cruel, as it might seem today, horse-diving was a prime traveling attraction that found a steady home in Atlantic City. From the moment the first horses dove for crowds at the Steel Pier in 1928, the act was a sensation. For 50 years, horses and riders took the plunge there anywhere from two to six times a day, despite the obvious safety risks.
Broken bones and minor injuries were a regular occurrence for the riders—sometimes the injuries were more severe. (History doesn’t record any particular injuries to the horses.) Oscar Smith, a 19-year-old who took his first and last dive in San Antonio, Texas, in 1907, died when he hit the water. Sonora Webster Carver, who was later the subject of the 1991 film Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, lost her sight when her retina detached on impact in 1931. She continued to dive, blind, for another 11 years.
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