15 Historical Photos You Won't Believe Are Real

10. Pegasus? - The Sport Of "Horse Diving" Used To Be A Popular Pastime

Horse Diving
Pixabay.com

A so-called "diving horse" was a popular attraction in the USA from the 1880s until the middle of the 20th Century - and basically involved a stallion jumping head-first into a pool of water, sometimes with people on their back.

William "Doc" Carver is credited with inventing the idea of getting the animals to jump from as high as 60-feet, supposedly thinking it up when his own horse was plummeted forward into water when part of a bridge across the Platte River in Nebraska collapsed in 1881.

Sonora Webster is the woman who can be seen on the back of the diving horse, and she ended up being blinded in 1931 when she fell into the water with her animal called Red Lips.

Thankfully, animal-welfare activists managed to convince the authorities to ban the sport in the aftermath of World War II.

 
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Contributor

NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.