My project horses are always potential sale horses unless they prove to be enough of a fit to stay, either for me personally or for lessons. I would love for him to be my next hunt horse/all arounder/lesson fill-in as he’s the right size and age and has shown tons of ability.
And I genuinely LIKE him.
I’d see if I could find a good rider that would 1/2 lease him and then let kid continue riding him.
Sitting wouldn’t hurt him in the least and neither would the kid playing on him casually a few times a week. Flat only.
Then he stays!
Part lease to a capable rider, and kiddo still riding sounds good. A few months quiet hacking or simple flatwork will do him no hurt anyway
Find a lease/half lease/free lease that will ride him at your farm?
I’m an ammie adult, former barn bunny, who hasn’t been on a horse in …8? years?
But I’d swap chores or any help I could offer for saddle time in a heartbeat. Supervise kiddo hacking, help you get kiddo lessons done (set jumps, etc), insure manners stay in place for the herd (wrt turnout, grooming, etc).
We’re out here.
Agreed. The kid rides well enough that I think Henry would be okay with only an occasional tune up. Obvi, your riding him 4 - 5 times a week allowed him to progress quite quickly; but you could just have cute good riding kid maintain him with the help of an occasional tune up from a competent adult.
You don’t want to sell him. So don’t. He’s a known quantity, and he’s 5. If you sold him, there’s no guarantee that you’d be able to replace him for his sales price.
I’d vote for turnout for Henry.
He just got cleared to start back ridden work, right? A few more months to heal/grow/absorb all the skills he’s learned in the past year seems like a good choice for him.
But if you want to sell, there’s probably a few of us here who would fight each other to buy him from you! 
Sitting and growing isn’t the worst thing at this age. Same with goofing off with the kid. Are you going to be sound enough to supervise lessons for her? If so I’d see how they both do without tune up rides and go from there. Having a horse that can come back right where you left them training wise is a very useful skill. You just have to set expectations for you and your awesome young rider on how much progress they’ll make without you riding him as well. I have a feeling they’ll both surprise you. Jingles you heal quickly.
My vote is I do not have one vote, I am picking two things.
First vote is let Henry hang for a little longer while you heal from your surgery. He will not care. It will teach the adorable rider more about horsemanship and how we sometimes get to enjoy them in different ways.
Second vote is more along the lines of what @Night_Flight suggested above. Find someone capable that is either not expensive or free (they are out there, they are not as good as you, but they can do it) to keep him tuned up while you are recovering.
If you lease him or send him to a trainer what would your plan be if things did not work out ? Knee surgery can have a long recovery with some significant pain. Having to deal with a horse that is not on your property can be problematic. If he was mine I would let the kid walk / trot him at my house under some sort of adult supervision. Worse case scenario with this plan is that he gets turned back out till you can ride again if he turn out to be too much horse without the pro rides .
Your love for and enjoyment of Henry comes through in every post you have written . I think for your peace of mind he should stay with you while you are recovering.
I vote let him sit, it won’t hurt him in any way and he’ll be there for you when you recover. He’s one in a million!
If you want to hear this… I hung on to a few horses bc the the whole purpose in life was to enjoy that nice horse. If I’d have sold then what would I be doing? Buying that new(er) car to drive which ends up becoming an old car just like the one I have someday soon - while somebody else has MY nice horse???
Hahahah horrible reasoning, right.
100% this!
Not to mention you may need a few nose snuggles for at-home PT (pony therapy).
1 Send him out to a trainer.
2 Let him sit until I’m ready to be back 100%.
3 Find him a lease situation.
4 Sell him
Well, 1, and 4. We are ALL definitely top trainers, and will all take him into our barns, but I’m the best and you should sell him to me, only to me.
Now, when you regain your senses, you will realize that 2 and/or 3 are the sensible steps. with 2 and 3, he becomes Incentive for you to do your PT regularly and thoroughly.
I think he is too nice to sell. Any way to try and find a free lease situation where they come to you and do the “experienced teen or small adult” rides 3 -4 days a week and continue to let the girl ride him?
That way you can see how he is going.
So sorry to hear about your injury. I hate to say that healing time at our age is usually longer then the DR tells you and you don’t just bounce back once you get going again 
Just keep plugging along and it will all return as before ( mostly).
Well, there ya’ go. Keep him.
What about a hybrid of your options?
Are you acquainted with a capable trainer, assistant trainer or very capable fellow equestrian who, for a small fee, would come hack him once a week and/or really school him on the flat, and maybe do some simple jump gymnastics?
Then have the kiddo come and ride once or twice a week, with you coaching her from the ground. Keep things simple and really focus on the basics.
In between these visits, Henry gets some major summer fun time in the pasture.
Edit to Add: I am so sorry you have to have knee surgery to get fixed. Not much worse than being an avid horsewoman on lay-up.
I sprained my groin managing to not come off the side of a spooked horse for a few jumps. Finally used my Emergency Dismount lessons when I realized I couldn’t get back in the saddle and he was about to brush past a jump standard….
To catch up with the thread, keep Henry! Extra time off would help his SI recover completely, then your great kiddo can learn to help leg him up again.
You don’t HAVE to decide right now, give it some time. Henry has earned some summer just being horse time, he’s mastered a ton since you got him. Couple months off is not going to erase his brain plus summer weather keeps the sillies at bay. Henry seems sensible enough not to go feral on you. Wouldn’t hurt to be ultra conservative bringing him back to full work either, never a bad choice. IMO.
If you are more comfortable keeping him in some work, the suggestion to find a qualified Junior to come out couple of times a week sounds like a winner.
You like him and from a business aspect, he is an asset to your operation.
Take care of yourself and reassess in, maybe, 60 days when you should at least be feeling a bit better and can see how Henry is adapting to less work.
I recall a poster who evented and had a loose dog create a bad wreck ( she had video IIRC), screwed up her leg. Down for months. Was it Yellow Britches? We kept her entertained during her convalescence, some great threads.
We are here to help you through, keep us updated.
ACL repair is both major surgery and lots of PT but from experience, it goes quickly and since you are fit and motivated, you’ll be surprised at how fast you’ll be back at it.
I vote keep Henry, find a capable rider to keep him tuned up— you’ll be up and on your leg a few days after surgery so you can be there to supervise. Get a good ortho who understands you are an athlete and need to be rehabbed as one. That really helps get you back as fast as possible.
I’d either let Henry sit, or have the kid continue with him on the flat if they can both handle it.
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