A plan to reinstate a horse diving attraction at Atlantic City’s Steel Pier is drawing criticism from some equine welfare advocates who claim the attraction puts horses at risk.

Horse diving was one of the most famous attractions offered on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J., in the 1920s through the late 1970s. The attraction consisted of a young, swimsuit-clad woman astride a horse. The pair would jump from an approximately 40-foot steel platform into a water tank below. The act was discontinued in 1978. A revised version of the attraction was presented at the Pier briefly in 1993, but was also discontinued.

On Feb. 1, Steel Pier owners announced that the horse diving attraction would become one of the venue’s entertainment attractions this summer. Steel Pier co-owner and Vice President Bill Catanoso said the attraction will be presented in a new state-of-the-art amphitheater, and that the horses participating in the act will be well-trained and well-cared for.

“These horses will be celebrities,” Catanoso said. “They are being trained now and these people (training the horses) care for them incredibly well