Zooey Deschanel caught horsing around. No joke.

She’s the adorkably cute actress that burst into our hearts playing klutzy school teacher Jess on New Girl. But now it seems Zooey Deschanel has gotten herself into a spot of legal trouble over a horse.

Yep, a horse.

For those of you that didn’t know, Zo is a lover of horses and a frequenter of the equestrian circuit, having competed in numerous competitions.

But now it seems her love for all-things-horse has landed her in a bit of a pickle as she is reportedly being sued for injuring a horse she had “leased” from Patty Parker in 2013.

According to The Independent the 34-year-old actress paid £13,000 (almost $25,000 AUD) to rent the horse, called Literati, under a contract with many strict conditions.

One such condition stated that Literati was to participate in “no more than three jumping lessons per week,” however, it has been claimed that Zooey rode the horse too often.

Patty, Literati’s owner, claims that Deschanel rode the horse too hard and he was returned in an “injured and unusable” state — even though, according to United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), the only time she competed Literati in a USEF-recognised competition was in August 2013 at the Blenheim Summer Classic.

Let’s hope that the condition of the horse remains stable.

For now, flick through here for some more of Zooey’s adorkable charm…