Atlantic City Plans to Bring Back Diving Horses

Before there were casinos, Atlantic City had the Steel Pier and its famous diving horses. This act consisted of a swimsuit-clad lady rider and a horse falling anywhere from 30 to 60 feet into a pool of water next top the ocean. Although some old movie footage shows horses jumping off of a platform, horses could be shoved on a downward-sliding platform or an electric cattle prod was poked under a tail, giving them no choice but to drop.

Plans to revive the act were unveiled on February 1 by Steel Pier president Anthony Catanoso, who hopes to have the attraction built by Memorial Day, 2012. This is part of a $102 million renovation of the entire 114-year-old Pier. Admission would be about $9.50 for an adult. These plans have been called "disgusting" by the President of Atlantic County's SPCA, Nancy Beall.

What About Protection of the Horses?

Catanoso insists that the horses will be well protected. The planned landing pool of ocean water is to be 12 feet deep - two feet deeper than the original pool. In an interview with Philadelphia's NBC 10 News, Catanosos insists that there was never a documented case of injury to a diving horse. However, he did not go into details on how the horses would be protected.

However, in 1927 a diving horse named Lightning did die after a jump - but not at Atlantic City. He jumped without a rider. Lightning was reportedly making a practice jump directly into the ocean from a 40 foot tower instead of into the usual sectioned off pool in the ocean. He jumped, landed, swum the wrong way and drowned.

Another worry is just how the horses will be trained to dive. Just how will a 1000 pound animal be persuaded to leap off of a platform 40 feet above water, even with a rider?

About the Diving Horses

The Atlantic City diving horse act ran from the 1920s to 1978, when the last three were retired - Shiloh (then 9) Gamal and Power Face (both in their 20s). One of the three horses, Power Face, disappeared soon after his last performance and was never recovered but the other two wound up in loving homes for the rest of their lives.

The success of the film Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991) renewed interest in diving horses. In the film, a young woman diver becomes blind after forgetting to close her eyes before hitting the water. In 1993, the diving horse act briefly reappeared in Atlantic City but was quickly closed down due to efforts from animal rights groups.

References

NBC 10. "Return of Diving Horses Sparks Controversy." David Chang. February 3, 2012. http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/the-scene/events/Return-of-Diving-Horses-Sparks-Controversy--138682124.html

Horse & Man. "The Atlantic City Steel Pier Diving Horses." http://horseandman.com/people-and-places/diving-horses/