Gulfport, Miss.—March 8  

For most riders, winning a grand prix would be the main focus of their day. But for Andy Kocher, his time in the show ring is a short respite between selling horses. Lucky for him, he’s gotten quite good at both. 

After Kocher finished the victory lap in the $77,000 Governor’s Cup Grand Prix—the final class of the Gulf Coast Sunshine Classic—on Heliante he walked out of the ring to a huge crowd of well-wishers eager for a photo or handshake. Kocher looks for one of his three grooms, but they’re back at the barn taking care of his other three horses in the class. His friend Dylan Harries sees him eyeing for a hand and grabs the reins, plopping his own daughter, Maggie Mae (who happens to be Kocher’s goddaughter as well) into the rider’s hands and walking away with the mare before Kocher realizes what’s happened.

He smiles as he bounces the baby, having grown used to going with the flow in the two years since he turned in house keys to set off on his own with a tractor trailer full of grade sales horses and no fixed address. While the announcer claims Kocher calls St. Louis, Mo., home, really he zigzags across the country trading horses and winning grand prix classes. By now he has nicer mounts, a few backers and a long list of wins.

Kocher and I ducked into the VIP tent at the Harrison County Fairgrounds to talk about the class away from the hubbub, but we didn’t get very far. He’s on his first sip of beer and hasn’t even unbuttoned his jacket when one of his business partners tells him that someone’s about to try a horse. It’s one that Kocher really likes and doesn’t want to see leave, but he’s promised his investors he’ll let this rider try him, so off we go back to the barn.

Back in the tent there’s beer, wine and champagne. It’s clear that his associates have gotten used to celebrating with Kocher, but he’s not dwelling on the latest blue. He may just have gotten show curtains last month, and show pads with his name on them a few weeks before that, but business has been booming for longer than that. Kocher won the USHJA Dash For Cash award last year for winning the most money in national-level grand prix events on a slew of horses—most of which he’s since sold—and he’s already ahead by $30,000 in the 2015 standings. And he’s picked up investors and owners along the way who appreciate his personable style, natural feel and seat-of-the-pants ability. 

Kocher’s white board has a short list of horses in the barn and their classes and another of horses who are at a nearby farm enjoying some turnout. But by far the longest lists are of who’s looking at which horse, and which horses are on trial in which barn.

“Don Stewart taught me just to use their show names—no barn names,” he says as he’s showing me around, and it’s clear that he aspires to have a sales business as successful as that legendary Ocala sales pro.

As we sit in a borrowed golf cart watch a junior rider try the horse Kocher doesn’t want to sell, one person after another comes up to ask about a sale or a trial or to talk about a vetting. Kocher immediately knows each horse in question, and has an answer for everything. 

“Tell them to get creative with it. We can do two payments. We can be somewhat flexible. I’m pretty…” Kocher’s voice trails off as he’s trying to thinking of the right thing to say as his eyes are still trained on the bay horse jumping in the schooling area.

“Motivated,” I whispered.

“Yeah. Tell them I’m motivated. That’s it,” he says.

Kocher’s nervous watching the trial horse school. As he talks about Heliante (she’s from Belgian horse trader Axel Verlooy but Kocher now owns her in partnership with several investors) he interrupts himself to call across the ring to tease the trainer in the schooling area, telling her “You get 10 jumps, then cash.”

The 31-year-old then turns his charm to the junior, who’s just pulled up with a big grin on her face.

“You look great up there! You look like Beezie Madden!” he calls.

When I asked if that line usually works he answered that no, it didn’t, but she really did look great, anyway. Then he hollers back at the trainer that she’s up to 13 jumps so far.

Heliante’s just notched her third grand prix win in five classes, and Kocher’s especially happy to have won this, the biggest money class all circuit. That’s been his goal all along. He beats himself up over the rail he felled on his first jump-off ride, Rooney IV, who finished overall third, behind Matt Cyphert and Lochinvar. In the jump-off on Rooney, Kocher lost a stirrup at the first fence and never got it back.  (“I was like a short stirrup rider—he would have won if I hadn’t lost a pedal,” he said.) That’s a horse he fell in love with during a buying trip to England, but was well out of his budget.  The horse dealer offered to send him along with six other horses, instructing Kocher to use the profits to pay for the first one.

“Is that great or what?” he asks.

He interrupts himself, again, to joke with another trainer who’s walking by and on the phone. Apparently she’s been dallying about signing off on a horse he’s been trying to sell. “Where’s the check? What more do you want her to do?” he asks.

With someone else Kocher’s badgering would feel rude, but Kocher delivers it with a grin and always get a laugh in return. He estimates he’ll have sold seven or eight horses by the time he leaves next week after only three full weeks in Gulfport (he’s been driving back and forth some between there and the Great Southwest Equestrian Circuit in Katy, Texas). Now Kocher’s considering making his first trip to California to show his mounts off to a new market and check out the West Coast scene.

But Kocher brushes off any notion that just because his name’s on a saddle pad or two he’s getting any closer to settling down or moving way up in the world. He laughs at the notion of getting his own farm and settling down, preferring to crash with friends whenever he can and sometimes springing for a Motel 6.

“It’s still like the old days,” he says. “I sold one last week for $3,500—in two payments! We’re just getting it done.”

Want more Gulfport? Check out this story about a special hunter on the showgrounds. We have news and photos, and you can get results at Horse Shows Online.