I am gifting a horse to a hard working, wonderful teen in my barn (with parent and trainer permission). Teen has ridden horse and is a good match and is utterly infatuated with the horse. Teen’s family had recent changes that left them unable to afford a big purchase so this will be a surprise to the teen either way. I’d like to do something a little more special than just signing a piece of paper but most ideas I’ve seen are Christmas/ birthday related or more for little kids (though maybe bows and ribbons are loved by all ages?). Any advice on how to make it a special surprise for a deserving kid?
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How exciting! Honestly, it is going to be a thrill for this teen no matter how you do it. Maybe have halter and stall nameplates made with the horse’s name and the teen’s name? That would be a subtle way to do the reveal!
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I’ve helped with this a couple times. We gift wrapped the stall once and another time made it a treasure hunt with cute new owner gifts.
It’s also cute to do a photo shoot and then add a bow on the horse and have the photographer catch the reaction.
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Get parents involved. If horse is being gifted after the kid leaves school one day… have parent hand them a box that said… this arrived for you today… and just have a lead rope in it. If they are coming directly from home… have box waiting for them when they wake up with a sign that says. “Open Me”
When they ask what’s going on… drive to barn. Have horse ready and waiting with big bow and matching halter on and a stall plate that has horse’s name and kid’s or family’s name down as owner.
It helps to have barn manager or trainer there to video/photograph reaction and for a “before the action” shot where horse is standing there with bow waiting!
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How lovely of you to do this! I’m sure the teen will be over the moon!
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How kind of you 
Great suggestions so far - maybe a stall nameplate if the barn allows them? I saw one recently that read:
Dobbin
Loved by Suzy Smith
Thought that was very cute.
Share photos of the event if you can!
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How about a sweet personal card from the horse to the teen? After she puts him away one day stealthily hang the envelope addressed to her on his stall door so she sees it when she does her last goodbye. (These wonderful kids always do a last goodbye)
" Don’t leave yet ‘Sarah’! Can we speak for a minute? I’ve been given the opportunity to have my favorite human in the world be my new owner. I would be so honored if you accepted this request on my behalf. Please will you consider it?’
Signed, Horse 
Or something like that : )
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My friend was gifted her favorite lesson horse. They handed her an envelope with a card inside. Inside the card was a note that said that unfortunately, the owner could no longer keep Dobbin because he really needed a girl of his own, someone who would give him the individual love, attention, and care that he really needed to be a happy boy, so he would be leaving the lesson program. The good news was that they had found the perfect new owner for him and would be immediately transferring his ownership to her.
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What a wonderful thing to do for someone so deserving!
I will echo a name plate and nice leather halter. That’s the kind of thing you keep for a lifetime.
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If the parents are willing to cover costs, have them tell teen to dress for a party or something and get a pro photographer at the barn to do a photo shoot of the pair. I see ads for inexpensive sitting fees for 30 min around here.
Or if you go the decorations route, is there something related to the teen’s hard work that could be used to inspire a theme for the decorations?
How wonderfully generous of you and congratulations to the teen!
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How kind of you! If you do a photo shoot please share the pictures, I’d love to see that happy face! (If the kid and the parents agree of course)
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Definitely echo the nameplate idea. It seems like such a small thing but as an adult who paid for my first horse myself I was so excited to get those plates; I’d been waiting a long time to see my name in the owner’s slot. I still smile when I see my name on his stall and the fancy halter.
What an amazing thing to do, that kid is so lucky to have you in her corner.
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I went to the local car dealership and asked for one of the “big ribbons” they use when someone gives a car as a gift. Placed on horse, sent kid to barn to feed and ta-da! “gift-wrapped” horse in stall! FYI I’d “hidden” the horse for a month in a pasture --he was bay, and so were the other two in the pasture. Since granddaughter only visited (at that time) on weekends, it was easy to only put two bay horses into the barn during feeding, feeding the third out-of-sight. I got the idea from Sherlock Holmes story: “The Purloined Letter” where the criminal puts a stollen letter on his desk in plain sight along with other letters . . .
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I was judging a show and was asked to make an announcement during the pinning of a flat class that a teen now owned the horse she was riding. Super sweet and such a surprise.
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That is so generous of you!!! Decorate the stall with a sign and a big bow–that was how I got my first horse–hopefully your kid isn’t as dim as I was, but I still remember the decorations and how excited I was.
I was 12 and we had been horse shopping for a few months. I thought we were going to buy the last one my trainer brought in for me to try, because I really liked him. My mom told me he had been sold and had already left the barn with his new owner, but that there was another one at the barn for me to try. So, we drove through a raging snowstorm to the barn because: Wisconsin in winter. I was VERY sad about the other horse, but I went down to get the new one, who was in the same stall. I didn’t really look at him, just put the halter on and started leading him out. Sad wittle 12 year old! 
My trainer and mom and the barn workers, who were all standing around in the aisle, were like: HEY!!! Look at the horse! Look at the stall!!! which was decorated with a huge bow and a Christmas wreath (it was Christmas). It was truly one of the best days of my life, even though it took me a minute to catch on! 
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I would get a new halter with her name as owner and put it where the old halter normally is. Ask her to get the horse. If she doesn’t notice that there’s a difference… “Is that a new halter? What does it say on the plate?”
Rather than the big, obvious wrapping and bows I often find this kind of reveal to be the most amazing… the shock and excitement when they realize what’s happening.
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As someone who has spent their life riding other people’s horses, I am a little teary on this kid’s behalf. What a tremendous, tremendous thing to do for her.
If you go the nameplate or letter route, make sure to explicitly spell out that she now OWNS this horse. I can see my younger — hell, my current — self being very guarded about/disbelieving a letter that said I was Dobbin’s new favorite person or a stall plate that said he was “loved by” the Carrots family. Well, sure I love him. Maybe I’m the only one who rides him. But that’s not remotely the same as him actually being MINE.
What about a fancy bill of sale? Either printed on faux parchment from Michael’s or enlarged like one of those big charity checks?
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Any chance you are the TikTok making type? Maybe some of her barn friends are? You can get her friends in on it, have one of them say they are filming a TikTok video. They can do the “I’m passing the phone to someone who…” trend and the person chosen to hand her the phone (should be you!) can say “I’m handing the phone to the new owner of Dobbin!”
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Where were you when I was a teen? 
That’s a lovely thing you’re doing 
I like the new halter/nameplate idea & @furlong47 idea of how to surprise her.
Just mention horse has a new halter & if she doesn’t read the nameplate (though I’d probably look at it) ask her to do so.
I still have the grooming halter my Trainer gave me in 1989 for my Very First Horse of My Own.
& I was 39 at the time 
It hangs on what was his stall, when I brought him to my First Very Own Farm in 2004.
Sadly lost him 5yrs later (at 27yo), but seeing the halter makes me smile.
Pls post here when the gift has been given to tell us how it went.
Pic Tax applies 
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This is such an amazing thread.
Please tell us what you do for the reveal. A gift horse is always so fun.
If you do the photo shoot - maybe having a pro photographer out to the barn to get shots of various people/horses, arranged ahead that this one is special, make sure you get some good photos of her and the horse before the reveal is done. If she starts to cry and looks emotional she might not be happy with the photos she ends up with. So let her get some good photos before the reveal. And then some photos of the reveal.
I love the card idea, or a new stall plate or halter wrapped up, but agree with the post above that it needs to be clear that she is now the owner, that Dobbin is 100% hers.
Thank you @Fence.Hopper for doing this amazing thing and sharing it with us.
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