Friday nights are known for being slow news times, but not tonight. It’s late so let’s get right to the facts. Peter Atkins and his legal team just sent Eventing Nation the following press release regarding a legal dispute between Peter and Linda Martin. The release:
HJ Hampton Center of Partnership Dispute
In a dispute surrounding the partnership interests of HJ Hampton, on November 2nd Linda Martin took HJ Hampton from Peter Atkins’ barn without his permission or knowledge.
Atkins was extremely concerned for the horse’s well being. On November 17th, Atkins obtained a court order that required Ms. Martin to surrender the horse to Atkins and further restrains Ms. Martin from selling, transferring, or otherwise taking any action affecting Atkins’ rights to HJ Hampton.
A hearing is scheduled for November 29, 2010 to determine whether the order will be extended pending a trial on the merits of the dispute.
HJ Hampton is a nine year-old Argentine-bred Selle Francais gelding. Atkins has been his exclusive rider, trainer, and caregiver since 2007. Atkins and HJ Hampton represented Australia in the 2010 World Equestrian Games, where they finished 24th.
As is usually the case with legal disputes, everyone needs to be very careful about what is said and when it is said, but a few things are clear at this point. Henny, perhaps Eventing Nation’s most beloved horse, is involved in an ownership and custody dispute. As the release explains, Henny is safely under the care of Peter’s camp by court order as of Friday evening but his legal battle is clearly just beginning. For what it is worth (pretty much nothing because anyone can change ownership online for $25), Linda Martin is listed as Henny’s owner by the USEA. [Horse Record PDF]
It seems that the Jung/Kreuter feud over La Biothetique Sam is playing itself out in a disturbingly similar pattern here in the US. Peter has made Henny from nothing into an eventing superstar and, as absurd as it sounds to any of us that Henny could be sold out from Peter, the ridiculous reality is that lawyers are now in control of the situation. We will of course have more later.
Update: Eventing Safety John’s view of the situation from Australia pretty well sums it up: “this is CRAP.”
