The winning image, which was taken by 31-year-old David Bellis and his three-year-old son while out walking near their home in Prestatyn, north Wales, was entered into Thomson Holidays’ Made Me Smile competition.

However following news the pair had scooped the main prize, the owner of the horse, Nicola Mitchell, contacted Thomson Holidays to demand a share, claiming that she should have been asked for consent.

Bellis told the Guardian: “I don’t understand why Nicola is so annoyed. I was on a public path that everyone uses to go to the local school and everyone sees the horse there.”

He added: “At first they thought I was winning £2,000 cash and said I should give them half, but it’s a holiday so they are not getting a penny. I’m not giving them the holiday either. They would have to come on the holiday with me – and that isn’t happening unless we’re both in a saddle together on the horse.”

However Mitchell said it was the family, who bought the horse Betty for her daughter three years ago, that had taught Betty to stick out her tongue, adding: “I was really annoyed to hear he had won a £2,000 holiday and had used a picture of our horse without our permission. He should have asked for our consent. There should be some token gesture as it is our horse that has really won them the holiday,” she said.

“I didn’t even know that this competition was on. If I had known about it we would have entered and could have won as Betty is always sticking out her tongue.”

Intellectual property lawyer and partner at Cardiff and London-based Capital Law Wayne Beynon told the Guardian the horse owner’s complaint “doesn’t really hold up in law”.

“The father and child were on a public footpath, so there is no issue of trespass. As the photographer, Jacob automatically owns copyright in the image and didn’t require permission of the horse’s owner to take the photo – similar to the way that photographers don’t require permission to take pictures of politicians, sports stars, or celebrities when they are out in public.”

The newspaper added that there is no mention in Thomson Holidays’ terms and conditions of getting permission to take photographs of animals. Thomson Holidays later confirmed that Bellis could keep the money.