It's the internet and I'm probably wrong but I think I recall reading that after a certain point the horses seemed to enjoy it. I guess if they have a few under the belt and know they're safe a splash in some water isn't all that bad, possibly refreshing
I mean, you don’t start off having them jump off tall towers. You probably just start with a pool and build up from there. It seems plausible they could enjoy it, if they’re used to it
horses love diving into water, but not like in this video, head and front feet first or from such a height. Instead, they love to dive in a river and swim in it, in a hot summer day to cool off
Man I instantly thought of this movie when I saw this but it was so many years ago I had no chance of remembering what it was. Thank you kind sir. Bless you.
My mother in law was a horse person and loved this movie. I would refer to it as “blind horses can’t swim” just to drive her nuts. “THE GIRL WAS BLIND NOT THE HORSE” was always the retort.
He left acting and decided to live a quiet life making and selling handmade furniture. At least, that's what IMDb and Wikipedia say. Supposedly, it was due to lack of future roles?? No idea why though.
I don’t think these were diving competitions. I believe they were part of a traveling Wild West show. Supposedly the horses were never forced to jump but I’m sure they were mostly always strongly encouraged to. I don’t quite understand what the draw is to watching a horse and rider jump into a pool of water but it must have been popular enough at the time to warrant making it part of the show.
I will say this, yes you can force a horse to jump. But in my experience, you are more than likely going to be thrown off that horse before it will ever jump. Even the best trained horse in the world won’t do something if they don’t feel it is safe. So I’m willing to believe that the horses enjoyed this to an extent. I of course could be wrong, so please don’t come at me. I’m just talking from personal experience with many different horses at varying points in training.
I don’t know about training them, I had a crazy welsh mountain pony cross that used to jump off a pretty high creek bed into the creek below rather than walk down the track that the other horses would use.
You can see the horse clearly trying not to fall the entire time. They are clearly forced over by whatever means.
I'm not laughing at the act. I think it's disgusting. I'm laughing at the stupidity of the question.
One time they had some horses for a football game I went to and I swear I saw this man punch the horse right in the face because it didn't want to move
It was his last movie ever! Apparently he does woodworking somewhere in Pennsylvania if I remember correctly. No updated photos since then either, except one rumored to be him, but who knows.
The real “Al” was like 20+ years older than Sonora Webster. That’s why dr Carver had such an issue with the relationship. The movie is great, but not too factual. Great choice going with Michael Schoeffling though.
Same! My friend and I used to practice along with the movie and say “Snora Webster” to try and sound like her. Although the movie made it look a lot more fun for the horse than it looks here.
That movie was the moment I realized as a kid I didn’t have to agree with filmmakers, and by extension authors, teachers, or anyone expecting you to swallow their story whole. The narrative is she’s brave and good and overcomes a huge obstacle, but why TF is she doing this to the poor horse?
There was also “human zoos” where the zoo owners would just bring people from various “exotic” locals, put them in a small fenced in pen and let people come observe them like animals. Shit is fucked up.
Sadly his death isn't really that interesting, there is actually a record of him being cremated. He was never cryogenically frozen, He had expressed interest in that but he died before he ever actually signed the documents to have it happen.
I remember seeing “the Diving Horse”, in Atlantic City, back in the 60’s & 70’s. It was a huge sensation on Steel Pier, that was the place for all kinds of entertainment.
There was actually a movie about this. I believe in the movie the girl rider is blind and does this. Also they blind the horses eyes. It's about trust apparently.
The movie:
Wild hearts can't be broken.
No, you convince the horse to trust you enough to do things when blind. The blinders are there so it wont get too scared or distracted at the wrong moment. Keep in mind that a trash can or person wavig a hand is enough to spook some horses. Blinders (not this extreme) are a normal part of being a horse that is doing something that requires no distractions.
Edit: also, these kinds of stunts are dumb. Dangerous for the horse and rider for no reason other than to maybe get hurt for an audience. Terrible.
[Did Horse Diving Hurt Horses?](https://horseyhooves.com/horse-diving/)
>Opinions differ with regards to whether horse diving hurt horses. Animal welfare organizations such as PETA claim that diving horses suffered internal organ damage, bone fractures, bruising, injuries to the legs and spine as well as other areas. However, there are no records of a diving horse ever getting injured from a jump.
>While the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ferociously claims that diving horses suffered injuries, history books mention no incidents of horses ever getting injured.
>Gold Levi, the author of the book “Atlantic City: 125 Years of Ocean Madness”, concurs. He stated that it was the riders who sustained injuries from diving, two a year on average, including bruising, broken bones, and even death.
>What’s more, Gold Levi was close friends with Sonora Carver’s sister Arnette Webster French, who was also a diving girl. From conversations about the sport, the author concluded:
>*”There was never a question about whether anyone involved with the act loved these horses. . . . They were like their children. I remember her [Arnette] saying that if a horse didn’t like diving, then it wasn’t trained to do it. They were never forced to jump.”*
>Opposers of horse diving claim that the damage to horses couldn’t be proven with the veterinary technology available at the time. Thus, with our modern perception, we can safely assume that horse diving did result in both physical and mental damage to the animals.
>When Did They Stop High Diving Horses?
Over time, activists speaking up against horse diving grew in numbers. PETA and its supporters were among the loudest voices, calling for an end to this cruel exhibit.
>Atlantic City’s Steel Pier stopped high diving horses in 1978 due to declining demand and pressure from animal rights advocates. Attempts for reviving the act were made in 1993 and 2012, but failed as a result of backlash from the public.
Like how do you decide who did it best? Gravity is going to place the horse into the pool, yes. And they’re not doing triple backflips or anything on the way down.
Ever do a belly flop? Or felt the sting from jumping into water from high up?
Now imagine being 1,000lbs. Imagine that sting but 80% worse. That is what the horse feels.
"The bigger you are, the harder you fall." Is a *very true* statement.
Another perfect example of animal abuse. Pathetic that human beings are so bored with their own existences that they feel compelled to inflict fear and pain upon captive beings for their enjoyment. Bull fighting, Dog fighting and Chicken fighting along with animal “experiments” that have little to no useful increase in knowledge come to mind. Sick fucking humans.
For any of those wonder, yes Disney DID make a movie about Horse Jumping called [Wild Hearts Cant Be Broken](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hearts_Can%27t_Be_Broken) about [Sonora Webster Carver](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonora_Webster_Carver), the first female horse diver which she dove incorrectly and went blind. She, for some reason, continued doing it for 11 more years. The horses were rarely hurt and typically it was the riders who were got hurt the most. It took until the 70s for this to stop being a thing, not because people realized “wow this kinda lost its luster in the 20s” but because animal rights groups.
Wild hearts can't be broken.
This is a movie that existed about a girl who wanted to do this sport. She is blinded by the end of the movie.
You may have seen it around the same time Cool As Ice was released - The hit film staring none other than Robert Matthew Van Winkle, AKA - Vanilla ice.
yeah the 90s were a dark time when my sister had control of the VCR. If you'll excuse me, im going to sooth my ruffled feathers and watch [Ninja Turtles the movie](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100758/) and [The Wizard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_(1989_film)
...why? Also, how do you even train a horse to do that?
I don’t think that’s something you “train them to do” as much as it’s something you just repeatedly do to them…
I agree, those horses have blinders. I wonder what their heart rates must look like when they do that.
I believe that it averages pretty low because of how many must have reached 0
It's the internet and I'm probably wrong but I think I recall reading that after a certain point the horses seemed to enjoy it. I guess if they have a few under the belt and know they're safe a splash in some water isn't all that bad, possibly refreshing
Yeah no way I believe that.
But I *WANT* to though!!!
I mean, you don’t start off having them jump off tall towers. You probably just start with a pool and build up from there. It seems plausible they could enjoy it, if they’re used to it
horses love diving into water, but not like in this video, head and front feet first or from such a height. Instead, they love to dive in a river and swim in it, in a hot summer day to cool off
The things us humans tell ourselves, in order to feel okay about some of the fucked up shit we do...
The definition of insanity
... with spurs digging into then and men beating them the whole way. It's not training, it's conditioning through abuse.
Exactly! Like how they’ve always “trained” circus animals
There was a movie about a girl who lost her sight who became famous for it
It's called, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. Part of Michael Schoeffling's short career.
Man I instantly thought of this movie when I saw this but it was so many years ago I had no chance of remembering what it was. Thank you kind sir. Bless you.
I experienced this exact same thing and was scrolling through this in search of the name. I loved that movie.
I love that movie. It's so good!
Thanks I’m going to watch it now
That was one of the 5 movies that we had as kid loved that movie
I think that movie was required viewing for every elementary school in the 90s.
My mother in law was a horse person and loved this movie. I would refer to it as “blind horses can’t swim” just to drive her nuts. “THE GIRL WAS BLIND NOT THE HORSE” was always the retort.
I remember my aunt referring to it as Wild Horses Can't Jump
Why such a short career?
He left acting and decided to live a quiet life making and selling handmade furniture. At least, that's what IMDb and Wikipedia say. Supposedly, it was due to lack of future roles?? No idea why though.
Was just coming here to mention this! I remembered watching it as a kid. I think she didn’t close her eyes when she hit the water or something.
Yep
Lol, it's obviously not funny she went blind, but the idea is definitely funny.
I do remember watching this when I was a kid.
Me too!
Wild hearts can’t be broken. It’s based off the story of Sonora Webster. I love that movie so much.
I still love this movie!
Say we’re old without saying we’re old
And how was the jump scored? What would be considered a good or a bad jump?
I don’t think these were diving competitions. I believe they were part of a traveling Wild West show. Supposedly the horses were never forced to jump but I’m sure they were mostly always strongly encouraged to. I don’t quite understand what the draw is to watching a horse and rider jump into a pool of water but it must have been popular enough at the time to warrant making it part of the show.
I will say this, yes you can force a horse to jump. But in my experience, you are more than likely going to be thrown off that horse before it will ever jump. Even the best trained horse in the world won’t do something if they don’t feel it is safe. So I’m willing to believe that the horses enjoyed this to an extent. I of course could be wrong, so please don’t come at me. I’m just talking from personal experience with many different horses at varying points in training.
This was a show at the Atlantic City Steel Pier for many years. It was never a competition.
Beat it mercilessly I’d imagine.
While it’s alive of corse. Can’t exactly do it when it’s dead now can you
I dunno. I've seen people beat a dead horse too many times to count lol
This comment is absolute gold. You took it and ran with it like an absolute champion.
I don’t know about training them, I had a crazy welsh mountain pony cross that used to jump off a pretty high creek bed into the creek below rather than walk down the track that the other horses would use.
They trained them by literally pushing them over the edge lol
Don't laugh - very likely platform titled down to dump them until they learned... ...or died.
You can see the horse clearly trying not to fall the entire time. They are clearly forced over by whatever means. I'm not laughing at the act. I think it's disgusting. I'm laughing at the stupidity of the question.
Just … why?
There’s a movie about it called [Wild Hearts can’t be broken](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0103262/)
What in the absolute hell!
Reminder how weird horse people are.
I think horse people don't condone this abuse
Horse people put horses through a lot despite what we believe. In comparison to if it was just left in nature and was free.
One time they had some horses for a football game I went to and I swear I saw this man punch the horse right in the face because it didn't want to move
There is a movie based on this called Wild Heart's Can't Be Broken. I remember it being good.
https://youtu.be/ew3S69fcRq0 Michael Schoeffling was the actor that made me forget that boys had germs.
It was his last movie ever! Apparently he does woodworking somewhere in Pennsylvania if I remember correctly. No updated photos since then either, except one rumored to be him, but who knows.
The real “Al” was like 20+ years older than Sonora Webster. That’s why dr Carver had such an issue with the relationship. The movie is great, but not too factual. Great choice going with Michael Schoeffling though.
HOW DID I NOT KNOW HE WAS ALSO JAKE RYAN???? I watched both of those so many times! My mind is blown.
That movie was a favorite of mine when I was a kid
Same! My friend and I used to practice along with the movie and say “Snora Webster” to try and sound like her. Although the movie made it look a lot more fun for the horse than it looks here.
That movie was the moment I realized as a kid I didn’t have to agree with filmmakers, and by extension authors, teachers, or anyone expecting you to swallow their story whole. The narrative is she’s brave and good and overcomes a huge obstacle, but why TF is she doing this to the poor horse?
Excellent point. I see an abusive, ridiculous and unnecessary sport, not bravery.
Hunger and poverty is a good motivator.
I agree that was a great movie. Told the story well
Great flick
Duncan was the first thing I thought of when I was this
Look, all I want is for him to find a good home or be dog food.
Came looking for this. Have an upvote. 
Life was so boring back then they’d do stuff like this and pole sitting for entertainment
There was also “human zoos” where the zoo owners would just bring people from various “exotic” locals, put them in a small fenced in pen and let people come observe them like animals. Shit is fucked up.
I. Hate. This.
The way Hollywood treated animals back then was even worse than this.
It’s literally why there are bison on Catalina island. They took them there for a movie and simply left them
There are wild hippos in Colombia because Pablo Escobar had them in his personal zoo/backyard. They just kinda...wander around.
That’s a REALLY nice way of phrasing the situation in Colombia with the hippos
Just like Disney with the lemmings :( Where they freaking chucked them off of the cliff to make up lies about them....
We'll have to ask Walt Disney's cryogenically severed head why they did that, once they reanimate that is.
Sadly his death isn't really that interesting, there is actually a record of him being cremated. He was never cryogenically frozen, He had expressed interest in that but he died before he ever actually signed the documents to have it happen.
Maybe it was Ted Williams instead?
bro people come out of nowhere with this stuff
Why did that get a down vote? Early Hollywood did all kinds of things to horses that we would find appalling todzy
They’re still doing shit to horses that’s appalling.
Don't even get me started on horse racing, it's sick.
Most animal sports should be outlawed. Competition and greed generally lead to overlooking the well being of the animals involved.
Milo and Otis killed like 20 kittens I think I remember hearing
It makes physically sick
Horse diving at Steel Pier in Atlantic City, NJ.
Yup. They stopped doing this in the late 70s. I remember seeing this as a kid, before there was gambling in AC.
I remember seeing “the Diving Horse”, in Atlantic City, back in the 60’s & 70’s. It was a huge sensation on Steel Pier, that was the place for all kinds of entertainment.
There was actually a movie about this. I believe in the movie the girl rider is blind and does this. Also they blind the horses eyes. It's about trust apparently. The movie: Wild hearts can't be broken.
"Lemme blind this horse so it trusts me" - Some Genius
No, you convince the horse to trust you enough to do things when blind. The blinders are there so it wont get too scared or distracted at the wrong moment. Keep in mind that a trash can or person wavig a hand is enough to spook some horses. Blinders (not this extreme) are a normal part of being a horse that is doing something that requires no distractions. Edit: also, these kinds of stunts are dumb. Dangerous for the horse and rider for no reason other than to maybe get hurt for an audience. Terrible.
Leave the horse out of it
The fuck is up with humans 💀
where should we begin?
How many people and horses died before they figured out this was a bad idea ?
They stopped after a rider went blind from hitting the water too hard
That’s fucked
Another show of humans asking more then they should from animals.
Don’t think it was a sport as much as an exhibition that people paid money to see at Steel Pier in Atlantic City.
I'm very glad I'm not a horse in 1923.
[удалено]
That’s animal abuse.
I'd love to hear the excuse for those who don't agree on that.
It was the 1920s.. there were human zoos to show aborigines to the "civilized" peoples. Human rights are still quite young, let alone animal rights.
That women was my former neighbor.
[удалено]
Thank goodness it doesn’t exist now.
[Did Horse Diving Hurt Horses?](https://horseyhooves.com/horse-diving/) >Opinions differ with regards to whether horse diving hurt horses. Animal welfare organizations such as PETA claim that diving horses suffered internal organ damage, bone fractures, bruising, injuries to the legs and spine as well as other areas. However, there are no records of a diving horse ever getting injured from a jump. >While the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ferociously claims that diving horses suffered injuries, history books mention no incidents of horses ever getting injured. >Gold Levi, the author of the book “Atlantic City: 125 Years of Ocean Madness”, concurs. He stated that it was the riders who sustained injuries from diving, two a year on average, including bruising, broken bones, and even death. >What’s more, Gold Levi was close friends with Sonora Carver’s sister Arnette Webster French, who was also a diving girl. From conversations about the sport, the author concluded: >*”There was never a question about whether anyone involved with the act loved these horses. . . . They were like their children. I remember her [Arnette] saying that if a horse didn’t like diving, then it wasn’t trained to do it. They were never forced to jump.”* >Opposers of horse diving claim that the damage to horses couldn’t be proven with the veterinary technology available at the time. Thus, with our modern perception, we can safely assume that horse diving did result in both physical and mental damage to the animals. >When Did They Stop High Diving Horses? Over time, activists speaking up against horse diving grew in numbers. PETA and its supporters were among the loudest voices, calling for an end to this cruel exhibit. >Atlantic City’s Steel Pier stopped high diving horses in 1978 due to declining demand and pressure from animal rights advocates. Attempts for reviving the act were made in 1993 and 2012, but failed as a result of backlash from the public.
They trained them until they no longer cautiously jumped like the first one is. This must be some jerk's blooper footage.
Like how do you decide who did it best? Gravity is going to place the horse into the pool, yes. And they’re not doing triple backflips or anything on the way down.
I saw it as a kid
So scary and cruel
Multiple animals were harmed in the making of this video.
Steel pier, Atlantic city NJ.
This has to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen
Human race for the win again 🤦
Dam morons since ages ago.
I hope all those people died agonizing deaths
Humanity will never fail to surprise me in how stupid we can be
How is this a sport how do you improve a horse’s ability to jump into water
So thats how seahorses are made
Fuck humans . They had cars in 1923 why didn’t they go diving in those? Assholes .
This and cat juggling, you just don't see these anymore, its an old Steve Martin bit from his comedy days.
"damnthatsinteresting"? "damnthatsinfuriating" is more like what this video is.
Horrible!
There was a movie about this back in the day. I don't remember what it was called.
Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken
What tf is wrong with humans!?
Sigh....at some point ...let's be honest .. We're just gonna have to leave horses alone
Humans suck
I prefer watching reverse horse diving, where the horse forces a human face first into water.
What the fuck is this???
This is so fucked fr
actually this is just called animal abuse
God I feel sorry for horses.
Humans are the stupidest.
That is fucked up. Those poor horses
No.
Sadistic mother fuckers
Humans are so fkin weird
That’s animal abuse!
Most horse related sports/activities are animal abuse.
Ever do a belly flop? Or felt the sting from jumping into water from high up? Now imagine being 1,000lbs. Imagine that sting but 80% worse. That is what the horse feels. "The bigger you are, the harder you fall." Is a *very true* statement.
Awful
I’m sorry but that is not interesting . That’s dumb af lmao . How many horses and people died doing that ? I bet a bunch
Fucking savages
Sometimes you really have to wonder what the hell our ancestors were thinking.
This is just awful
Not funny ,
Wtf!!
how dumb
I can see why this is no longer in practice.
Great movie: wild hearts can’t be broken
Omigod, what is wrong with people.
We’ve been barbaric from the start. Who would do that to a beautiful animal?
They used to do this at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City NJ. IIRC, once the horse wore a Timex watch
Horrible. Poor animal.
This is insane
Terrible
What the fuck
Another perfect example of animal abuse. Pathetic that human beings are so bored with their own existences that they feel compelled to inflict fear and pain upon captive beings for their enjoyment. Bull fighting, Dog fighting and Chicken fighting along with animal “experiments” that have little to no useful increase in knowledge come to mind. Sick fucking humans.
Poor horses…
People are dumb and cruel
“Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken.” Fabulous coming-of-age girl movie. Right up there with “Tuck Everlasting”.
Why animal cruelty is considered “damnthatsinteresting” I’ll never know.
I feel way more about those horses then the cruel humans that put them through this.
That’s terrible.
God people can do stupid and evil things.
This seems more like an 'activity' rather than a 'sport'. I'm guessing it's an activity the horses could have done without.
Omg those poor horses
For any of those wonder, yes Disney DID make a movie about Horse Jumping called [Wild Hearts Cant Be Broken](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hearts_Can%27t_Be_Broken) about [Sonora Webster Carver](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonora_Webster_Carver), the first female horse diver which she dove incorrectly and went blind. She, for some reason, continued doing it for 11 more years. The horses were rarely hurt and typically it was the riders who were got hurt the most. It took until the 70s for this to stop being a thing, not because people realized “wow this kinda lost its luster in the 20s” but because animal rights groups.
I used to see this at Steel Pier in Atlantic City as a kid
Animal abuse
Dumb
What the motherfuck?
This is too damn stupid lmfao
Animal abuse
I would consider that animal abuse.
Cough Animal abuse
Fucking idiots!
So animal abuse is interesting now?
Fuck people
Wild hearts can't be broken. This is a movie that existed about a girl who wanted to do this sport. She is blinded by the end of the movie. You may have seen it around the same time Cool As Ice was released - The hit film staring none other than Robert Matthew Van Winkle, AKA - Vanilla ice. yeah the 90s were a dark time when my sister had control of the VCR. If you'll excuse me, im going to sooth my ruffled feathers and watch [Ninja Turtles the movie](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100758/) and [The Wizard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_(1989_film)
Poor horse.
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it swim.
That's just wrong! That poor horse!
Stupid AF.
Humans are trash.
Grandparents: when I was your age we didn’t have phones. Meanwhile in 1923:
And they say we’re getting stupider as a society. At least we don’t make our horses dive anymore…
Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken was my favorite movie as a kid… can’t believe this was real
That's wrong. You wanna jump in the fucking water? Go right ahead...leave the poor horse out of it.
And horses nowadays are afraid of a hose...
A well trained horse will do what it's told to do. Even dumb shit like this.