Sonora Carver

Sonora Carver (born February 2, 1904 in Waycross , Georgia , † September 21, 2003 in Pleasantville , New Jersey ) was an American rider who appeared in Doc Carver's horse show. She went blind in an accident, but continued to work as a rider at the show. Her autobiography was made into a film in 1991.

Start of career

Sonora Webster grew up in a large family that moved frequently. After the tenth grade, she left school. Even as a small child she loved horses. In her autobiography she reports that as a five-year-old she almost traded her little brother for a draft horse. She was very impressed when she saw William Frank Carver's horse diving show in Savannah in 1923 . Nevertheless, she reacted negatively when her mother suggested that she apply to Carver as a rider in response to an advertisement, and was only very reluctantly persuaded to talk to Carver. Carver needed a new rider at this point because his daughter Lorena had to take a break due to an injury and his son Allen was supposed to establish an offshoot of the diving show in Texas with some of the horses .

A few months later, she applied to the show and drove with Carver to the winter quarters in Jacksonville , Florida , where she completed several weeks of training. 1924 followed their first appearances in Durham . She initially received a weekly wage of $ 50. Their task was to mount a horse on a 40 to 60 foot high wooden tower, which then jumped from this tower into an eleven foot deep water basin and climbed out again via a ramp. When Sonora Webster joined his show, Carver owned the five horses Klatawah, Snow, Judas, Duchess of Lightning and John the Baptist and had Sonora work with the first three while the other two were used for the shows directed by Allen. However, Judas soon developed a dangerous jumping technique and was no longer used in the show, and Snow gained so much weight that it was eventually only used for breeding purposes. Sonora Webster initially worked mainly with the old chestnut Klatawah, who was one of the first horses that Carver had trained to dive.

Later the horses were exchanged. Allen and Lorena Carver took Klatawah, Judas and Snow to New Orleans , while Sonora Webster performed with William Frank Carver at Fairmont Park in Kansas City. In 1926 the diving horses of the Carver Show were filmed for the first time in Topsfield , Massachusetts. Later they often appeared in newsreels.

Accidents and restructuring

That same year, Sonora Webster almost had her first diving accident when John the Baptist's harness suddenly came off in Krug Park, Omaha , and she only found hold on his mane. However, she managed to climb back from his back onto the platform of the tower.

Another accident occurred in 1927. The mare Duchess of Lightning was killed jumping off Lick's Pier in Ocean City. There, for the first time, horses were not allowed to jump into a pool, but into the open sea. While John the Baptist managed to get to the shore after his jump despite the strong surf, Duchess of Lightning was so terrified by the waves that she swam out to sea. A lifeboat followed her, but panicked the animal even more. Finally, a noose was thrown around the horse's neck and the boat dragged Duchess of Lightning back to the beach, where only her death could be determined.

A little later William Frank Carver died very old. Because of a new contract that took them to Sacramento , the company was unable to attend his funeral in Winslow , Illinois. Allen Carver now took over the show, and Sonora parted with the chaste old-fashioned bathing suits, which she had always worn during the jumps at William Frank Carver's request, and put on new costumes. Other innovations were the winter quarters on Lorena's farm in Bucks County , Pennsylvania , and the switch from the railroad to the car as a means of transport for the troops. First they tried a Chevrolet , and soon afterwards two Studebakers were purchased, which also served as advertising media. In addition, the horse Judas, which had not been used for diving jumps for years, was sold. After Lorena had decided not to work on the shows anymore, but only in management, there was not only a shortage of horses, but also of female riders. In 1928, Sonora's younger sister Arnette therefore joined the troupe. Sonora trained her, but found that risky situations kept coming up. Nevertheless, Arnette performed with Lorena the following season, but was later adopted because she could not get her problems with the diving jumps under control.

Finally, Allen Carver found a suitable horse again, a piebald who was named Red Lips. Red Lips had been returned to its original owner by several buyers because it had been found to be undressable. When he first met Sonora, he tore her dress off. However, it later emerged that the horse only had a penchant for tearing up textiles, but was perfectly suited for the purposes of the show. Red Lips eventually became Sonora's favorite horse.

Steel Pier

Steel Pier

Sonora and Allen Carver finally married in Norwich . As a wedding present, Allen presented Sonora with a contract that signed her for 1929 at the Steel Pier amusement park in Atlantic City , New Jersey. The show was to appear there every year from now on. At first it was intended to let the animals jump into the open sea here as well, but after the misfortune they had with Duchess of Lightning, Allen Carver insisted on building a basin. This was also granted to him. Arnette returned to her sister and brother-in-law and performed on Steel Pier as a swimming artist.

Steel Pier was arguably one of the most famous amusement parks in the United States at the time. Johnny Weißmuller showed his skills there for six weeks, a “ human cannonball ” was shot into the sea instead of a safety net, the cyclist Oscar Babcock performed there, the Pallenberg bears could be seen on Steel Pier as well as The Fearless Falcons, an acrobatic group , which consisted of Irene Berger and Orville and Roxie LaRose. They were working without a net on a rack 125 feet high.

On July 14, 1931, there was a serious accident. During an unusually steep dive with Red Lips, Sonora Carver landed so unhappily with open eyes on the surface of the pool on Steel Pier that she damaged the retina in both eyes. However, she ignored the pain and blurred vision that came on immediately for several days and continued to occur. In order to even be able to tell where the horse was that she had to get on, she used the dark Klatawah in broad daylight and Red Lips with its mostly white fur at night. When she finally sought medical treatment, it was too late to save her eyesight.

After another rider of the show was canceled, Arnette had to jump in again. It occurred to Sonora during her forced break that the previous uncertainties might have resulted from Arnette's left-handedness, and gave her new instructions on how to ride. In fact, it solved Arnette's diving problems.

During the winter break in Quakertown , Philadelphia, Sonora Carver learned to read Braille from Sadie Cohen . In the following season, however, she wanted to perform again herself - now with a protective helmet to prevent further injuries. Several accidents occurred at the beginning of the 1932 season. Irene died and Roxie was seriously injured in an accident involving the Fearless Falcons acrobatic troop. Sonora Carver was an ear witness to the tragedy and wanted to run, but was prevented by a cordon. This saved Carver from being hit by the collapsing rigging of the Falcons. More accidents occurred over the next few days. Among other things, one of the Pallenberg bears was released and attacked an athlete. Faced with this string of accidents, Sonora Carver doubted whether she should really take the risk of riding blind. However, personnel and deadline problems finally forced her to jump again with Red Lips for the first time on June 7th. It worked, and Sonora Carver continued to perform on Steel Pier for eleven more years.

The audience knew nothing of Sonora Carver's disability for years. A newspaper reporter in Charlotte , North Carolina eventually made the fact public. She was then persuaded to appear on the radio by a minister who was trying to raise money for a center for the blind in Charlotte. Sonora Carver, who had initially found this intrusion into her private life uncomfortable, quickly realized that her popularity could help many people and from then on no longer made a secret of her blindness. She continued to work on Steel Pier until 1942.

After the show career

In 1942, the Second World War led to an interruption in show business. Red Lips, who died in 1954, was allowed to spend his old age in a pasture in Houston, and Sonora Carver lived off paperwork, etc., while her husband became a night porter in a motel . Arnette, who left the show in 1935, lived in Pennsylvania as a housewife and mother. Although the diving shows with horses on Steel Pier were resumed after the war and continued into the 1970s, the Carvers did not return to show business. Protests from animal rights activists and the general decline of the amusement park ultimately ensured that horses no longer had to jump from the tower.

In 1961, Sonora Carver's autobiography A Girl and Five Brave Horses came out, which was filmed in 1991 under the title Wild Hearts Can't be Broken with Gabrielle Anwar in the lead role. But Sonora Carver was very disappointed with the film because it only stuck to the real events in the main. She died at the age of 99.

plant

• A Girl and Five Brave Horses. As Told to Elizabeth Land , Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York 1961, Ndr. At Martino Publishing, Mansfield Center 2009, ISBN 978-1-57898-732-0

Web links

• Interview with Sonora Carver (English)
• History of Diving Show (English)
• Marc von Lüpke: Bizarre attraction. Daring women on their jumping horses. In: one day on Spiegel Online from March 21, 2017 (including photo series).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bill Kent: The Horse Was in Charge . New York Times. May 4, 1997. Retrieved May 1, 2008.
2. ↑ Gayle Ronan Sims: Horse-diver Sonora Webster Carver, 99 . The Philadelphia Inquirer . September 24, 2003. Retrieved December 3, 2007: “
   Sonora Webster Carver, 99, the first woman to dive off Atlantic City's Steel Pier while riding a horse - a stunt she continued for 11 years after she was blinded during a performance - died Sunday Sept 20, 2003 at Our Lady's Residence in Pleasantville, NJ "