Tracey Wright (pictured) was involved in a divorce battle with husband Ian Wright over the stabling for her horse
Divorcing middle-class couples are increasingly unlikely to fall out over who gets the house – instead arguing over who gets the horse.
Up to one in 15 break-ups among better-off couples involves a dispute over who keeps the mount, an analysis found.
Experts say quarrels often revolve around subsequent upkeep costs – which can reach thousands of pounds a year – as well as the outright ownership.
Divorce lawyer Alice Couriel, who works for Hall Brown Family Law, said: ‘Horse ownership has become a noticeable feature of the divorces which we deal with not only due to the frequency with which it crops up but because of the intensity of the disputes. Husbands often contest wives’ insistence that keeping horses is a need, contending that they are luxuries instead.’
Miss Couriel added that three out of four equine disputes in marriage break-ups are among childless couples. She said: ‘In those cases, horses become a substitute part of their wives’ lifestyles and are almost treated as surrogate children.’
Figures from the British Equestrian Trade Association put the annual cost of keeping a horse at around £3,600.
Miss Couriel added that while some couples are wealthy enough not to worry about the bills, for others ‘discussions about finances are so closely contested that the amounts needed to pay for any kind of horse can be a problem.’
Hall Brown said that of 300 divorces it has handled over the last year, 19 involved rows over the ownership and costs of horses.
The cost of keeping horses was a key factor in a landmark divorce case which raised questions over the right of wives to live off their former husbands for life.
Millionaire horse surgeon Ian Wright was made to pay the stabling for his wife horse after a bitter divorce but this was reversed in 2015 by an appeal judge who told Tracey (pictured) to get a job
Tracey Wright, 52, was given stabling for her horse as part of a settlement agreed by the courts in 2008, following her split from Ian Wright, 59, a millionaire horse surgeon.
But in 2015 an Appeal judge ordered that the maintenance payments for the mother-of-two should cease and that she should be required to go out and get a job.
The judge said that Mrs Wright had exaggerated her income needs.
The National Equestrian Survey found that in 2015 three in four riders were women – with 962,000 regular female riders compared with 348,000 males.