okay, so recently read an autobiography on one of the girls that dived with the horses. the horses were never beaten, never harmed. forced sometimes at first, yes. but never hurt. the horses they used were handpicked from all over the country, and if the horse just really did not want to dive, they had to sell it and find another that was okay with diving. but the horses that dived loved doing it. there was even one that would run up the ramp and not wait for its partner, and dive alone. believe me, it was not like diving into an abyss. the horses enjoyed what they did.