The Modern Matchmaker for Horses and Barns
Written by Sarah Hickner | Photos by Michael Butcher
In the 1990s, Match.com revolutionized how people find love. Then Zillow came along and changed the way prospective homeowners shop for a house. Now, Tori Sullivan, creator of BarnWiz, is doing the same for horse owners: helping them find their perfect barn.
According to the American Horse Council’s 2023 Economic Impact Study, the equestrian world contributes $177 billion annually to the U.S. economy. Over 2 million American jobs are tied to horses, and some 40 million U.S. households are connected to the industry in some way. Yet despite its size, many professionals are barely breaking even while riders struggle to find the right barn.
Sullivan experienced this firsthand when she left her family’s breeding farm in Reno, Nevada, to build a career. Every relocation led to a stress-filled saga of finding a new barn for her Hanoverian dressage mare. “It shouldn’t be so difficult,” she reflects, and thus BarnWiz was born.
A Legacy of Horses and Tech
From a family-owned breeding farm, to a cousin who won gold at the 1973 European Three-Day Eventing Championship, to a great-aunt whose mother imported prime stock from overseas, the legacy of good horses runs deep in Sullivan’s blood. Her mother worked in the medical field, and her father, always an early adopter of technology, bought one of the first home computers so his kids could learn to type, and even recorded his own audiobooks.
She was raised in a family that blended adherence to tradition, striving for excellence, and incorporating innovation — traits that have influenced her own career. With multiple degrees in health information and a master’s in healthcare administration, she built a powerhouse career in technology, data analytics, cybersecurity, and digital transformation projects for major healthcare systems at IBM and Gemini Consulting.
Her work has helped hospitals transition from paper to digital records, automate processes, and improve data privacy. She even authored a book teaching hospital managers how to implement ICD-10, a modern clinical coding system that helps the U.S. keep up with World Health Organization disease and procedure standards.
Through it all, she continued to own, ride, and move her horses as her career took her across the country. Each relocation reignited the same struggle of finding the right barn, trainer, feedstore, farrier, and everything else an equestrian needs in a new city.
The challenge of finding the right barn is an experience many equestrians can relate to. “I’d spot a boarding flyer at a local tack shop — one of those with little phone number tabs you can tear off — and then look up the barn’s website.
“But time after time,” Sullivan explains, “those websites are missing the most basic details. No current boarding information, no pricing, and no availability listed. If they do have recent photos, they’re usually of an empty stall or a group of riders at a show — nothing that actually helps you understand what life at that barn is like.”
Then she’d pick up the phone and schedule a visit, which could take hours between the drive to the barn and the walkthrough, only to find the stalls were too small for her horse, or some other simple problem. An adequate description on the website could have saved all parties involved time and effort.
“Finding a professional who truly matches your needs is, without question, one of the most stressful parts of owning a horse,” Sullivan says.
The Birth of BarnWiz
In 2018, when IBM eliminated her position, Sullivan saw the opening she’d been waiting for. She took the buyout and devoted herself fully to solving the problem she’d experienced for decades.
BarnWiz Inc. was officially founded in 2022. Sullivan assembled a tech team and began building a platform that would bridge the gap between horse owners and equine professionals everywhere.
“A rider needs to advance their skills. Parents are looking for the right place to start their kids. BarnWiz makes those connections easy,” Sullivan explains. “We want to help every rider find their community.”
The system benefits both sides: an empty stall is lost income for a barn owner, but a tour with a mismatched client wastes everyone’s time. BarnWiz streamlines that process, helping riders find their perfect fit — and helping professionals fill their barns with patrons who truly belong.
The company’s next goal is to evolve beyond a matching platform into a full business ecosystem for equestrians. Sullivan and her team are now working with investors to launch the SmartBook features that will enable users to manage scheduling, automate payments, organize lessons, and forecast profitability.
“Most people don’t realize how hard it is for equestrian businesses to be profitable,” Sullivan says. “We want to change that by giving professionals the tools to run efficiently while helping riders find exactly what they need in a barn.”
Those interested can join now at a discounted subscription rate, with marketing support that includes help with photos, business descriptions, and even pricing guidance.
As Sullivan puts it, “BarnWiz is where Uber was in 2010 — the right product, for a massive market, at exactly the right time.” ML
To learn more, visit barnwiz.com or contact info@barnwiz.com.
Published in the December 2025 issue of Middleburg Life.