I guess she wanted to keep using that trainer at shows 
Normally it is disclosed in the contract along with the other services and rates. IME seen it in contracts from BOs as a requirement to board there. Sometimes BO is also trainer, sometimes not. Never seen it from a meet at show trainer but not a surprise to hear it exists. I do understand what motivates them to charge that and it is their business but choose to go elsewhere.
Do pay commissions when appropriate and did pay a higher percentage for lower end horses and they did take much longer to find.
@Ponyplusaninch, that’s very fair wrt the commission. I gave my trainer a big commission on a horse because she worked hard to find it. Kind of like a bonus.
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I’ve never heard of this applied to someone who doesn’t board with the trainer, but generally the barns that have a policy like this have clients who expect to work with their trainer to buy their horses anyway so it makes no difference to them if it’s in the contract. I’ve only seen it in more upscale full-service type show barns. There’s not a huge population of people who want to be in that type of program and also want to fully DIY their horse purchases without leveraging their trainer’s advice or network.
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Depends on how talented the meet at show trainer is and if they are also going to be your show rider as well. If you do not buy any new horses the commission for a meet at show trainer would never come into play anyway.
I hadn’t considered the meet at show trainer could also be showing the new horse - makes sense that they’d have vested interest in a new purchase if that’s the case.
