High-diving horse act returning to Atlantic City

While Ocean City and Wildwood and other mid-Atlantic beaches allow horses on the beach, Atlantic City has plans to take things just a step further.

The casino town, in desperate need of a makeover, has embarked on a revitilization master plan.

That's great news for visitors and tourists. The plans call for better lighting, landscaping, new rides, infrastructure upgrades and a complete overhaul of the historic Steel Pier by 2015. The idea is to create a year-round entertainment attraction. Sounds wonderful.

But one detail within the grandiose plans for the Steel Pier is sure to give pause.

As soon as this summer, the owners plan to bring back the famed diving horse act, according to The Press of Atlantic City. This attraction calls for a horse to dive into a tank of water from a platform some 30-40 feet high.

The act was hugely popular from the 1920s right up until 1978, when I daresay, someone got a clue. There was a brief revival in 1993, featuring horses diving from only about 15 feet, but it was abruptly shutdown because of protests.

Steel Pier owners contend there has never been any evidence of animal cruelty related to the diving act. Furthermore, "they would never feature any act that would mistreat an animal," they said in a statement issued last week after the tourism plan received final approval.

Still, the Humane Society has said it strongly objects to plans to revive the act.