Horse diving was a popular traveling wild show, in which a rider with a horse dive headlong into a pool of water from a platform 40 or above in the air. This risky stunt drew huge crowds where it was performed. The risk was real, both for the horse and rider. On Feb. 17, 1907, 18-year-old rider Oscar Smith was killed in a dive.

William “Doc” Carver, invented this show in 1881 when a horse he was riding over a partially collapsed bridge leaped into the river below. Sonora Webster joined Carver’s show in 1924 as a horse jumper, and she married his son. After the Craver’s death, they took the show on the road and it was very successful. In 1931, Sonora was permanently blinded by the impact of the high jump. However, she was not discouraged; her blindness simply enhanced the spectacle of the show as she continued diving for another decade. The show was eventually shut down in the late 1970s.

Take a look at the photos below that show both the training and the actual stunt.