I bought myself a project pony, and now he’s ready to move on to his next family. The problem is I have become very emotionally attached to him, but realistically don’t have a good use case to keep him around right now. I’ll likely have children in the next couple of years, but it would be some time before they would be on a pony. I was thinking of leasing him out but have been advised that the risk to reward ratio is not worth it, and I should sell him outright. I would only let him go to a reputable barn, the trainers are well connected in my area. However you never know what could happen while they’re away, even if he’s just doing crossrails - 2’6”. Thoughts?
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Is he a true pony? Carded?
There’s a good market for leasing ponies for showing. It’s not uncommon to get half of or even the full sales price in the lease price per year. Parents know their kid will outgrow the pony and so they would rather pay more but not have to worry about what to do with pony when the kid grows a foot in a week.
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He is not carded but he is a true pony. Easy measure. Has only shown locally but his biggest selling point is he is safe through and through. Conventionally cute and easy.
I’d lease. Thousands of horses and ponies get leased every year. Like anything, you only hear the horror stories because it’s not worth telling, “Oh, Dobbin was leased and it was a great experience!” because that’s the case literally 95% of the time. Have a good contract that lays out your expectations for care, showing restrictions, and so on.
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You would have literally no control of this once he is sold.
I am in the same boat 
I got an adorable project pony two years ago. She is still here. I am emotionally attached because she is literally the same every day whereas my “grown up” 12 yo gelding has meltdowns on the reg. I am an adult and if I can afford it, at this point in my life dammit I deserve something I can hop on and have fun on without having concern for my life.
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they can live nearly forever, the over twenty year old pony my daughter got to use in her riding program 21 years ago is still here at over 40… no actual true age is known be when we had him vetted at the beginning his age was determined to be mid 20s which was agreed upon by the previous owners (their last kid who rode him when she was four was here two weeks ago doing a video for final under grad college class …Carolyn, yes that is Your pony Charlie in the paddock.)
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Pony market is ridiculously hot right now.
Leasing is always a crapshoot because you never know if you’re getting back the same creature and you’re living with whatever habits they may have picked up over the year or years.
I wouldn’t bank on it being a future kids pony because you don’t even know if your kids will like to ride? Some just aren’t game for it. You also don’t know if it will be ready for them or sound enough in another 5-10 years depending on when you get pregnant. Best to let the good soul go live his best life and try to keep tabs on him. Make sure he’s microchipped so that you can follow him via USEF if his name changes.
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I’d lease. Keep good tabs on him, put it in the contract you get to see him every 6 months and that he must attend one (or however many you want) show a year to continue the lease. It’s pretty common to have a minimum show amount in leases. It’s also a good way to see how the pony is doing training wise.
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If you have a good trainer or two that you like, ask them to arrange a lease where they would supervise the program, at least until the kid proves able to ride and care for the pony, and the pony would stay in a barn with trusted care.
If it’s a good safe pony, the trainers will probably be so pleased to have it to offer to their reliable students.
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Do you want this pony long-term but just don’t have a place for him right now? Is the money from a sale important to you or is it enough that you trained a pony you enjoy? If you’re attached and don’t need to make a quick buck then I think you should do a lease, especially if you’re able to lease him out under the watchful eye of a trainer you trust.
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Every time I have leased out a horse, the contract says I can go and see the horse any time I want. I would never sign a contract that aid I could only see the horse once every 6 months.
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Mine never said “any time I want,” usually there was a 24 or 48 hour clause unless owner believes lease isn’t be followed. It isn’t enough time to truly undo something like being underweight or feet not done, etc, without being overly controlling of the leasor.
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I rarely checked up on the lease more frequently than every couple of months, with plenty of advanced notice. But I wouldn’t sign a contract that said I COULDN’T
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There’s usually a 24h notice that you have to give, and some barns/people prefer even longer. Put in whatever you feel comfortable with.
Usually the language is more that ‘owner will be visiting every 6 months, and can visit whenever owner would like otherwise with appropriate advance notice of at least ___ days’
It’s important to put these sort of situations in writing. While it seems to most of us like a no brainer that you should be able to visit the horse whenever, some people have severely taken advantage of this. I’ve seen situations where someone leases a horse and the owner shows up every day because, well, she could. She wanted horse time. So she would show up and groom the horse and just hang out at a barn, that she wasn’t paying for, with a horse that was full leased out to another person.
The contract said she could 
The reason for the ‘will be visiting every 6 months’ is the opposite reason; the Leaser could always say it’s a bad time, they are out of town, he’s at a show, etc. It gives you a easy way to break the lease if for whatever reason it seems they are trying to hide the horse from you.
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Leasing because a theoretically not yet conceived child may decide to ride and could one day ride this pony is not a very rational reason to hold on to a pony. If you would personally enjoy having this pony regardless of whether another person in your family ever rides them, then that’s a great reason to lease.
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Lease nightmare stories abound. My barnmate is in the middle of one right now. My own horse died on lease – to a very reputable barn and very responsible lessee. Don’t do it.
I would start with a lease. That way you can always go from there. You could always do a lease to buy if the situation is looking really good. Or you may not like it at all and be glad you didn’t sell him. People love to lease the ponies due to the growing factor of children. A good lease can give your pony great show miles and you can stay in the loop. I would think on it, but would not bank on your future kids necessarily. You can always include clauses like being first notified and forfeits in a case of failure to abide by the terms. Anything can happen and leases are very popular so of course there will be horror stories. I hope you figure it out!
