PLEASANTVILLE, N.J. (AP) — Sonora Webster Carver, the first woman to ride the diving horses at Steel Pier in Atlantic City and the inspiration for the 1991 Disney movie "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken," has died. She was 99.
Carver died Sunday at a nursing home, where she resided for several years.
In 1924, she made history when she plummeted 40 feet on horseback into a tank of water. The stunt was first performed by W.F. "Doc" Carver, who became her father-in-law. In 1931, she went blind from detached retinas suffered after one of her horses, Red Lips, hit the water off-balance.
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Carver continued to ride the high-diving horses until World War II.