Diving Horses?? SURELY NOT?? Look at this it's awful!!!

I don't know how I feel about this. Yes it looks awful and I wouldn't want to do it personally. But when they used to do it the horse did it for years and it didn't seem to have a high horse nutrition rate. There are worse things a horse could be doing.
 
dieseldog said:
I don't know how I feel about this. Yes it looks awful and I wouldn't want to do it personally. But when they used to do it the horse did it for years and it didn't seem to have a high horse nutrition rate. There are worse things a horse could be doing.
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i agree i'm also a little "on the fence" and think there are a whole lot worse things happening
the horse in that vid also seemed to trot up that ramp quite happily :o
i think a lot would depend on how they get them to go up that ramp ?
 
I agree, there are worse things people do with/to horses. What would consern me most would be exactly what's involved in the training - what would convince a horse to jump off a 40' platform?
 
I know it isn't quite the same but I had a pony that loved water (he would go in any water jump but getting him out was a big problem). I remember being out hacking with my sister and we used to stop by a ford and eat our little picnic that Mum had sent us out with. We went on a very hot day and had had a race so both ponies were sweaty - they were stood untied eating grass as they always did and we turned around to watch my boy wandering off and then hop straight of a 10ft drop into the ford and then roll and roll, have a splash about and then just stand there waiting for us!
 
I am pretty much on the fence as well. However, Sonora Carver's (who was probably the most famous horse diver) autobiography is truly inspiring.

For anyone who's interested its called A Girl and Five Brave Horses. It really highlights the connection that she and Dr Carver had with the horses. It is evident that the whole diving team was absolutely adored the horses they use and didn't just see them as a money making gimmick. It tells of how they trained the horses to dive by gaining their trust and never through force and certain horses they retired and rehomed because they didn't think they were enjoying the job.

As I said I'm not pro diving but it is clear that Sonora Carver and Dr Carver were true horse people and cared greatly for the horses that they used in the show.
 
I am a bit on the fence too with this because the pony looks healthy and it doesn't look stressed. It also looks like there's some treats waiting for it the other end. Like the point made above I wonder what they do to train them to do this, surely not all of them would be as obliging and its not nice to think of a scared pony being bullied to take the leap.

Having said that I've some people behave pretty badly trying to get ponies to jump a fence!!
 
I'm not a fan, I think its the way the guy refers to it being iconic as part of the development. They are animals here, not concrete structures. I can't see why you'd bring this back tbh, surely we have learnt to be amused by other things now?

Are they going to bring back dancing bears and fat ladies too, although I guess these days a fat lady is not exactly a novelty ;)
 
Sorry not for me just keep thinking what if its neck breaks as it hit the water that hard from that height and the surge of water uo the nostrils no no no could watch it being done if they want to do it themselves in the water jumps or puddles etc that fine but I dont think it is entertainment in my eyes
 
squiz22 said:
Like the point made above I wonder what they do to train them to do this, surely not all of them would be as obliging and its not nice to think of a scared pony being bullied to take the leap.
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In Sonora's autobiography she describes how they started by asking them to go of a very small drop and then they gradually over time increased the height they asked the horses to jump off. As I understand it they began by teaching them to jump proper fences so that they learnt to understand the aids and trust the riders. I read the book sometime ago and if I remember there were one or two horses that jumped well of certain height but were unsure when jumping off the highest ramp, so they retired them.

Again I might be wrong but I think in the book it explains how important it is for the horses to want to dive because if they are at all nervous or agitated they wont dive properly which endangers both horses and riders. Again I am not condoning horse diving just stating what I've read about the Carvers
 
giveachance said:
I am pretty much on the fence as well. However, Sonora Carver's (who was probably the most famous horse diver) autobiography is truly inspiring.

For anyone who's interested its called A Girl and Five Brave Horses. It really highlights the connection that she and Dr Carver had with the horses. It is evident that the whole diving team was absolutely adored the horses they use and didn't just see them as a money making gimmick. It tells of how they trained the horses to dive by gaining their trust and never through force and certain horses they retired and rehomed because they didn't think they were enjoying the job.

As I said I'm not pro diving but it is clear that Sonora Carver and Dr Carver were true horse people and cared greatly for the horses that they used in the show.
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I don't doubt this for a second, and it is truly a wonderful story. But it begs the question that if it came back and there was money to be made from it, would the horses be trained in the same way with the same skill, or would they be forced??
 
You might as well ask how you train a horse to jump a puissance wall or do passage - none of it is 'natural' - why should this be worse than anything else we ask horses to do?
 
Saratoga said:
I don't doubt this for a second, and it is truly a wonderful story. But it begs the question that if it came back and there was money to be made from it, would the horses be trained in the same way with the same skill, or would they be forced??
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You have to think there would be the legitimate ones who did train like set out in the book but if there was money to be made I bet there were some horrid cheap copy cats.
 
I personally find it sickening. I've not watched the video in question here, but I've seen footage in the past online. No horse would ever choose to jump off a very high platform into a tank of water. I know that you can say showjumping etc. isn't natural either but it is in the way that horses naturally do jump so we're just taking advantage of that. Never seen a horse leap into water from a great height in the wild though... At the end of the day I see this as pointless, how is it entertaining?!
 
I dont really have much of an opinion but this has reminded me about one of my favourite movies from when i was little and i cant for the life of me remember what it was called!!

The main girl was called Nora and it was about horse diving...!
 
I don't think it can do the horses much good landing from that height into water.. the one in the video didn't dive either, it just sort of belly flopped. Not keen.
 
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