Here’s something you probably didn’t know but that won’t surprise you: Zooey Deschanel is a passionate equestrian. She loves riding horses and has apparently been competing in horse-related events for years. That’s great, right? Here’s what’s not great: apparently a horse she “leased” to ride was overworked and “broken” when returned to its owner, and now the owner wants Zooey to pay up.

From TMZ:

The “New Girl” actress is a hardcore equestrian — competing in events all the time — and allegedly “leased” a show horse to ride for $13k back in 2013.

In the suit, the woman who owns the horse, Patty Parker, claims Deschanel signed a horse contract … promising not to overwork the stallion (named Literati) with restrictions that included “no more than 3 jumping lessons per week.”

But Patty says … when Deschanel returned the horse … it was a shell of its former self — “injured and unusable.” Sad.

In her suit, Patty says Literati needed serious medical attention — and claims it’s on Zooey to foot the massive veterinary bills.

Huh. Zooey hasn’t responded to TMZ’s call for comments, and this whole lawsuit might be bullshit. I can’t see Zooey “Manic Pixie Dreamgirl” Deschanel abusing a horse, but if the horse was overworked or overtrained or whatever, that’s really awful, the poor thing. At least Patty only seems to be seeking fees for the horse’s medical fees and not some massive payout, which leads me to believe this may be somewhat credible…