Horse diving first emerged in the 1880s as an idea by William "Doc" Carver, a man better known for performing in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show as a sharpshooter than as an olympic diver. Carver allegedly came up with the idea when crossing a bridge over Nebraska's Platte River. With Carver still on, the horse jumped off the bridge into the water below, inspiring the idea of diving horses. While injuries did happen, it was more often the horse's rider who was at risk than the horse.
By the 1970s, diving horses had begun to lose its popularity with animal rights activists demanding an end to the practice. There was a small push to bring the diving horses back to Atlantic City in 2012, but it was quickly snuffed out by animal welfare advocates.
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