The greatest attraction in Atlantic City in 1898, was the Steel Pier, which featured a host of extraordinary side shows, and where stars of stage and screen regularly performed at the Marine Ballroom. But the most popular, and the most indelibly remembered, act on the Steel Pier was the Diving Horse. For children especially, the diving horses were for decades a mesmerizing and never-to-be-forgotten experience.
The Steel Pier was opened on June 18 1898, and was originally built by the Quakers, as a private resort. However, it was soon open to the public, as “the handsomest and most luxuriously appointed pier in the world”, and this was no idle boast. Later it was owned by the Hamid family, who maintained the Steel Pier’s high standards.
The venue’s most fondly remembered act began in the 1920s. Dr W. F. Carver, a noted sportsman, was returning home on horseback one night in 1924. The bridge he was crossing collapsed, and he and his horse plunged forty feet into a raging river. The horse executed a well-balanced dive, and both swam safely to shore. Dr Carver wondered later whether a horse could be trained to do this. Dogs could certainly be trained to dive…but horses?
One of the original riders, and certainly the most famous rider of all, was Sonora Webster Carver, Dr Carver’s daughter-in-law. Her husband Al Carver had been the original horseman, but Sonora made a female rider a traditional part of the thrilling show. Her sister Annette was also a rider of the diving horses in their forty, and sometimes sixty, foot plunge into a special tank. At first Dr Carver had thought that Sonora Webster, who had her heart set on riding the horses, was too small for the task, and he gave her a job as a stable hand. But she persisted, and was finally given the chance to fulfill her dream.
Tragedy struck Sonora Carver in 1931. After a bad dive she suffered from detached retinas and was blinded. Incredibly, she continued to take part in the show for another ten years. She published her memoirs in 1961, in a book entitled ‘A Girl and Five Brave Horses’, which inspired the film ‘Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken’, about Sonora Carver and the diving horses. She died only this year, in Pleasantville New Jersey, at the age of 99. She had been blind for 72 years.
The Diving Horses ceased in 1978, when the Steel Pier was bought by Resorts International, and was shut down. Thankfully, the last two diving horses were saved by an animal protection society. The Steel Pier itself had been through a good deal of drama: in 1962 a tidal wave washed part of it away, and in 1970 the famous Marine Ballroom was sadly destroyed by fire. Atlantic City had acquired a somewhat seedy and run-down reputation, but today there are plans to restore and reopen the pier. Hopefully they will be fulfilled.
But the diving horses will never come back. It was an act with significant dangers, and many riders, Sonora Carver in particular, suffered quite severe injuries. The horses seemed to enjoy it greatly, but the animal protection societies would never permit such an act again. It has vanished into the bitter-sweet mists of memory, but there are still many thousands of people who will carry with them all their lives the thrilling and spectacular memory of the Diving Horses of Atlantic City.
The story of Senora Carver is told in the Disney movie, "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken"
Contrary to the above, there is one diving act still in play:
That is in Magic Forest in New York State. The original Rex the Diving Horse, stunt film star and regional celebrity, had been tucking and diving here since 1977. He has been replaced by his son, Lightning.
"They are trained to dive," said Magic Forest manager Shelley Cummins. "There is no rider, no prods, no electrical jolts, and no trap doors."
Magic Forest contains many fairyland diversions for the kids, but families carefully time their activities to take in one of the twice daily performances by the horse. The pine-shaded knoll next to the diving pool rapidly fills with antsy youngsters and handycamming dads.
Lightning clomps up the long wooden ramp, and pauses at the top. Sometimes this moment seems to go on forever. Then he looks out at the crowd -- and jumps.
Links used:
http://www.petticoated.com/pdqwinter04/otherdocs/divinghorsesW04.html
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/NYLAKrex.html
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