A showjumping gelding called Evening Storm is in the centre of a legal tussle between his owner and a veterinarian, with the latter refusing to give the horse back to his owner, as she claimed the horse was a gift to her.

The Mercury reports Lindsi Wood – the original owner of the horse – turned to the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) for an urgent order that Michelle Miller give the horse back to her.

Evening Storm is currently being stabled by Miller at her premises in Walkerville. Wood told the court that she had placed Evening Storm and his equipment temporarily into the care of Miller as far back as October 2022.

She explained she did this as she suffered a serious riding injury to her ankle that meant she would have to undergo an operation.

This would have left her unable to ride for six months.

Wood said she was told that Miller had also had a riding accident, and that Evening Storm was the right horse to aid her in her own rehabilitation.

According to Wood, it came to her attention later that Evening Storm was not properly taken care of in Miller's care.

Apart from disputing that the horse's condition had deteriorated and the matter was urgent, Miller claimed that she was the owner of Evening Storm.

According to The Mercury, she said that the applicant had given Evening Storm and the riding equipment to her after Wood had fallen off the horse and injured herself, and no longer wanted the horse.

The judge remarked that it is improbable that Wood would donate a horse and equipment to the value of R180 000 to a person she hardly knew, and continue to pay the medical insurance.

The court referred the matter to oral evidence due to all the disputes.

‘Evening Storm is a show-jumping horse, which means the matter is time-sensitive. He will not live forever. The matter cannot be left to meander its way through the court system while his prime riding years diminish,’ the court noted.

Full report in The Mercury

Judgment