10/16/2026
When people talk about horse shopping, the focus is usually on one question: Is this horse a match for the rider? According to show jumper and sport horse producer Sonja Ochadlik, a horse can suit the rider and still fail to fit the program surrounding that rider.
“I’ve had an experience it was a great type of horse, and it was actually a match for the rider, but it wasn’t so much a match for the trainer,” she said.
That changed the way she approaches placing horses. Now, when a trainer is involved, she considers whether the horse will suit that trainer and their program as well.
Buying a horse is not simply pairing two personalities. The horse is usually entering an entire system. Who will train it? How will it be ridden? What will its daily routine look like? How much turnout will it receive? How will it be managed? What sort of expectations will surround it?
Ochadlik says those questions should be considered from the beginning.
If a horse has been successful in one type of program, moving into a completely different system may require more adaptation than the buyer expects.
Ochadlik strongly encourages buyers to think about who is helping them through the purchase process. “Who is on your team in terms of helping you with this purchase process?” she asks.
For someone shopping abroad, she recommends working with an agent who is actually on the ground in that country and understands the local horse market. That person may know things about individual horses, trainers, programs, and sellers that a buyer trying to navigate the process alone would never see.
If the buyer normally works with a trainer, Ochadlik recommends involving that person too. The goal is to make sure that the horse being selected has a realistic chance of succeeding once the sale is complete.
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