'New Girl' Star Zooey Deschanel Sued for 'Riding Horse Too Hard'

'New Girl' Zooey Deschanel has been sued for riding a "leased" horse too hard and too often.

The 34-year-old star is reportedly an enthusiastic equestrian and has also competed in many competitions. However, Deschanel now faces legal woes due to this passion of hers.

She allegedly "leased" a show horse named "Literati" last year from its owner Patty Parker for $15,000. TMZ reports that the actress had signed a specific usage contract before leasing the horse, but ended up violating it.

The agreement clearly mentioned that Parker did not want the animal be worked too hard or should do "no more than three jumping lessons per week".

But when the horse was returned, Parker noticed that it was "injured and unusable" and in need of serious medical attention. She alleges that the actress had violated the terms and conditions of the agreement. Parker sued the "500 Days of Summer" actress and wants her to pay for the horse's high veterinary bills.

The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) informed that Deschanel had competed Literati just once in a USEF-recognised competition that was held at the Blenheim Summer Classic in August, last year.

The condition of the horse is not known as yet.

Several media outlets tried contacting the actress for her comments on the matter, but could not be reached. It is being speculated that she has not filed for a defence till now.

Deschanel has been appearing on Fox's comedy series 'New Girl' for which she finished the last show of the year on Tuesday. She is going to return for the next half of the show's fourth season on January 6.

She had taken a long gap of four years from the big screen but will soon appear in two films that will release in 2015. One of the films, 'Rock The Kasbah', will release on April 24 and also stars famous Hollywood stars like Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, Bill Murray and Danny McBride. Deschanel's boyfriend Jacob Pechenik is one of the producers of the film.

The other film is a dark comedy named 'The Driftless Area' which has other stars like John Hawkes, Ciaran Hinds, Aubrey Plaza and Alia Shawkat.