what to do....

[saffire_100]

my 20 yr old Arab, Saffire, has been at a lesson barn owned by some friends (call him "D") of ours since about March. I let her go on a free-lease as I did not want to sell her. I wanted to be sure she would work out for them. It is a family run barn and our friends were desperate for a good lesson horse. Saffire was a total snot the day they came to try her out, but they took her anyways and it has worked out beautifully. They love her, all the students love her, and Saf loves all the attention. These folks take good care of their horses or I would not have let her go there.

Saf is a horse that needs to work and thrives when she gets ridden a lot. I do not have the time for her anymore as I have 2 50-miler plus horses competing and a youngster to train.

So that leaves Pauli. I weaned Tika this spring and she has finally put some weight back on. I have started ponying her and riding her again and I absolutely love riding her. However, I don't need 3 competition horses. I was thinking of advertising her to the endurance folks as a great starter horse for endurance. She knows the game and is easy to handle and ride.
My hubby just talked with "D" this morning to see what was happening. Another great update on Saffire, just think she is wonderful. "D" actually took Pauli for me for one month for free when I was weaning the little guy. I told him she was possibly going to be for sale but he was not interested at the time. Now, having spent more time with Saffire, he wants first look at her if I decide to sell her. He likes the way I train my horses (nothing special, but they are well-mannered and consistent) and although he previously would have never looked at Arabs, he thinks they are great now.
My hubby told "D" that I wanted to sell her to an endurance home, but he wants first dibs and he wants to buy her outright. He wants to buy Saf too. I just find it almost impossible to sell my horsey-friends. They are like family to me.

Comments?

ETA: I don't need to sell them, I can keep all of them forever as we have our own farm, but it does take extra energy to take care of horses that are just "extras". I can't ride them all and spend enough time with each of them if I have 5.

[Annie]

I would offer him a lease if you aren't comfortable with selling. That way they will come back to you if things don't work out on his end. If he doesn't like it he can buy elsewhere.

[twpArwen]

My thoughts:

If you want to sell, and the issue is selling to an endurance home versus selling to D, then I think you should sell to D... you trust his care of the horses, Saffire is doing well there, and that's more important than what type of work they do.

But if the issue is your comfort level with selling them at all... that's a bit different and I can see why you'd hesitate - Annie's suggestion of just offering a long-term lease is a good one. It's hard to see why D wouldn't go for it, he gets the use of the horses but doesn't have to pay for them.

Although it's a hard choice, you are at least lucky to have such a great home lined up for them if you do decide to sell.

[Wendy]

if you dont need the sale money i would just free-lease both of them to "D" for a few years until retirement time?? I did this with an older mare that I had no time to ride for 2yrs and it worked out great.

[cdn_tinkerbell]

My vote is to free lease her not sell her. I know you too well Sarah and you would be devisitated if you did sell her. You would always wonder where she is, is she happy, is she in good health. Plus I don't want to see Pauli go. I really enjoyed riding her the other dayand I would hate the thought of never seeing her again.

[True North]

I have to agree with Jen on this one - free lease, don't sell.

[saffire_100]

I think you are all correct. I feel fine with Saffire free-leased to him because I can always take her back if she becomes unable to be ridden for whatever reason. She should have another 10 years in her, but one never knows. My horses are my life and I want to be able to take care of them in their senior years. I want to be the one to decide when their quality of life is gone. I can provide them with whatever special needs they have when they are retired...as much as D takes good care of them while they are active lesson horses, he does not have endless money to keep all the old lesson horses... I know they bought another one that turned out to be too old to even ride... now they are feeding him tons of feed, paying vet bills and getting nothing back for it.
The good thing also is that Saffire is only 35 minutes away, so I can see her whenever I am over that way.

[Heidi]

Yep, I'm on the free-lease them band wagon. It just seems like it would perfect for all involved. Good luck, I hopt it all works out for the best.

[Melissa]

I'm definitely on the free lease bandwagon too! Sounds like its the best solution for you and the girls