Springsteen Saddled with Horse Suit
A former member of the U.S. Equestrian Team is trying to knock Bruce Springsteen off his high horse.
Olympian Todd Minikus has sued the Grammy-winning rocker and wife Patti Scialfa for breach of contract, claiming they backed out of a deal to buy an $850,000 competition-caliber horse from him.
The lawsuit filed in Palm Beach, Florida, states that Springsteen agreed to pay $650,000 and hand over one of his horses, Scarlett, in exchange for Minikus' horse, Pavarotti, who was going to be a gift for their teenage daughter Jessica.
Instead, Minikus claims, the rocker couple chickened out after he rode Pavarotti in the Pan American Games in Brazil. They had already offered up a $25,000 deposit and Jessica had ridden the animal on two occasions, according to court documents obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
"This case involves a simple matter of parties on one side of a contract getting cold feet and attempting to avoid their obligations," the suit states. "The defendants conveyed to plaintiff through their agents…that Mrs. Springsteen wanted to back out of the deal, fearing that Pavarotti might not be right for her daughter."
Pavarotti was examined by the Springsteens' veterinarian, who cares for the other animals the family keeps at Stone Hill Farm in New Jersey, and the sale was supposed to be completed by Aug. 24, Minikus says.
The Loxahatchee, Florida, resident is seeking unspecified damages and compensation to go toward Pavarotti's daily upkeep, stating that the horse has diminished in value since the Pan Am Games partly because of the "high-profile purchasers" who rejected him.
Springsteen's rep Marilyn Laverty told the Associated Press Friday that she didn't have any information about the lawsuit.
And the Boss and his wife probably weren't around to get served, either.
On Wednesday, Springsteen and his E Street Band, which includes Scialfa, kicked off their first tour together since 2002 at Connecticut's Hartford Civic Center and are in Philadelphia tonight and Saturday for two shows at the Wachovia Center.
Magic, the band mates' first album in five years, debuted Tuesday. Springsteen, a 15-time Grammy winner and an Oscar winner for "Streets of Philadelphia," released the solo album Devils & Dust in 2005 and the folk-rock tribute to Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, in April 2006.
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