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Sunny and Caesar
Horses are amazing, beautiful beings and like all animals, offer so much to enhance the lives of humans. It is tragic that so often they are misunderstood, mistreated and abandoned by those from whom they seek nothing more than love and affection. Our horses, Sunny and Caesar, tell that story. Fortunately for them, we met Adiva Murphy.
In only a few months time, Adiva has taken Sunny and Caesar from being untrained and afraid, sick and malnourished and turned each of them into healthy, loving and respectful horses. To watch Adiva work is amazing. She communicates with horses on a meaningful level without saying a word. She earns their trust and respect through patience and a deep understanding of what it is to be a horse in a human environment. The results are impressive and immediately apparent. But the education process doesn’t end in the ring and it doesn’t end with the horses. For those of us watching from the sidelines, there is much to be learned from Adiva Murphy. It is truly time well spent for anyone seeking to establish or improve their knowledge, understanding and relationship with horses.
~ Marylee, Vancouver BC
Mercy Rule
In my volunteer work with off track standardbreds I was faced with the problem of an older mare that had reacted to her first ride by bucking off her rider and running over her handler. Since I board in Adiva's barn I brought the mare home to work with Adiva. In our first session, she was actually mounted several times from both sides as well as walking and trotting with Adiva and I taking turns riding! With only 30 days to sort things out, Mercy showed us her innate gentleness and willingness to please. Her initial reactions had been all based on fear. With clarity in what we asked of her, she responded willingly and quietly. At the end of our month, she was returned to the adoption agency as a safer softer mount to await an adoptive home. Thank you Adiva, from Mercy and I.
~ Pat, Delta BC
SW Roxy Barlink (Roxy)
My mother bought me Roxy when she was only a yearling because I was having confidence issues. Two years later we had her broke and I was riding and training her with my English Coach. That winter my coach moved away and I didn’t ride for four months. When I got on her for the first time in a long time, I didn’t have a coach. I had my mother. She would be telling me the usual things, “Put your heels down! Wrists up! Use your outside leg!” Well In the months I hadn’t ridden, Roxy had managed to forget a lot of what we had done the previous year. After two months of riding on my own, I finally had a new English Coach. She helped a lot with reminding my horse the main cues. But my mother thought things were moving too slow and I wasn’t getting anywhere farther. At the next show I went to with her, she was an absolute maniac! She wouldn’t respond to leg cues, she try to escape numerous times from the ring, and she didn’t have a stop button anywhere in her body. So my mom decided to get me and Roxy a lesson with Adiva, whom she was using as her coach. The first lesson I had, Adiva had to show me things over and over again, but I finally got it. Now Roxy won’t try to escape from the ring anymore, she will respond to leg cues and most importantly she’ll stop! The best part of all, even though it’s winter again and I’m not able to ride, I can do everything I would do up there, on the ground, so she won’t forget anything ever again.
Zach
When Zach was first born, we had actually thought he was a Zoey. But two days later we discovered he was indeed a colt. We found him to be an absolute sweetheart but he had to be on stall rest for two months with his mother. Almost a year later he was put on stall rest again. In that time he had become the roughest stud colt you have ever seen. Adiva had come to do a clinic for the 4-H club I am in and we had made plans with her to work with Zach almost right away. We waited until after he was gelded to have Adiva work with him and with only one lesson he was MUCH better. After a few lessons or so of training, you would have never had guessed he was ever mean, invading your space, or trying to figure out if your hair was hay.
~ Devon, Ladner BC
Homestead Morgans
We believe that it is better to do one thing well than to do many things and have them be just okay. Realizing that our strength was in breeding and producing quality Morgans we wanted to find a trainer that not only shared our beliefs but treated each horse as an individual and that had the capability to allow each horse to reach their fullest potential. Adiva has now worked with several of our horses at her facility and this spring will be coming to the Homestead to work with a group of our youngsters. Adiva is an honest, hard working individual that not only has the best interests of the horse front and foremost but is constantly bringing you up-to-date on how things are going. In our opinion Adiva Murphy is one of the best trainers and we consider ourselves fortunate to have her in our lives.
~ John and Janine Welsh
Rohan
Not only is Adiva a great horsewoman of immense skill and knowledge, she is an equally great teacher for the owner. I had recently purchased young Arabian, who I soon found out to be a very challenging, spirited and extremely reactive horse. He is as wilful as he is cheeky with an enormous sense of play. As a result of the few months of coaching from Adiva I now have the ability to understand my horse, work with his innate personality, and at the same time preserve his sense of play. I have a relationship of mutual respect with my horse by learning the language of the horse.
My horse and I experienced immediate results working with Adiva. He is a changed horse in his overall confidence and now that I have confidence in my horsemanship skills I look forward to playing with my horse every chance I get. And this is just the beginning. The future looks really bright for us, and this is a dream come true for me.
~ Janice, Delta BC
Hialeah North Horse Farms Ltd
Adiva worked for me for a number of years while I had my Thoroughbred horse farm, Hialeah North Horse Farms Ltd. I cannot overstate my opinion enough that this woman has a unique and important ability.
She proved to be an invaluable asset to the whole operation. She was absolutely reliable and thorough in her duties. She was well motivated and innovative. Her tasks whether they be mucking out stalls, preparing yearlings for sale, breaking and training, were always approached with professionalism and expertise.
A person of this calibre is a rarity in the horse business, and a treasure to be found. There are far too few good people in this profession who know the best way to approach the horse, the rider, and get the kind of results with both, in a reasonable length of time. It is almost an intuitive gift, something that is learned over a number of years with the overlay of love and attention that is needed in dealing with horses and their riders.
~ Elaine Macpherson, Okotoks, AB
Chardonnay
Adiva, I wanted to thank you for all your horse knowledge and skills you are passing on to me and my horse Chardonnay. As you know she is a young 3 year old Morgan filly. Well... turning 4 and going through her teenage years!!
I have always been interested in Natural Horsemanship. Years ago I had seen the demonstrations on video and live, as well read some books....but they never really explained how they got to that stage...I felt it very frustrating so I gave up. I have also taken professional riding lessons (from Olympic dressage riders) and still I never really understood the abc's of side pass, turn on the haunches, etc. You have a gift, one in which you can communicate with the rider/ horse handler and the horse! You have patience, are very kind and have a great sense of humour. Most important for me...you know how to teach....the art of passing on information to another...be it horse or human.
I as you know had a riding accident a few years back. The fear factor unfortunately takes over at times ....who would have thought I would be riding my horse with-out a bit!!....on the beach!! And feeling totally in control!
I am amazed with the results of our training in just a few months. I look forward to each lesson and the new skills we learn each time. Chardonnay and I are truly lucky we have you as our teacher.
~ Michele & Chardonnay, Delta BC
Lady
I’ve always wanted a horse, and a couple of months ago I found a 2 year old Morgan stallion. When I went to Loranda to try and get some boarding I met Adiva who talked me out of it and helped me find a horse that was better suited for me. That’s when I met my beautiful Standardbred mare Lady. Adiva has helped me by starting her under saddle and getting her out of pacing. She has been there every step and now I have a horse that is confident and can be ridden with out a bit and follows me around where ever I go. She has not only created a well rounded horse that knows her limits but has also created a friendship that will last forever. I couldn't in a million years be were I am right now with Lady with out the help of Adiva. Thank you so much for everything.
~ Bianca, Delta BC
Vagabond
About a year ago I lost my beautiful horse partner, Hawke, to a tragic accident - the grief was overwhelming. The owner of the farm where I kept him kindly offered me a horse of her own to work with, one whom she knew needed some special attention. Vagabond was a horse off the track and had some deep emotional scars. We had an immediate bond, a bond that I believe came in part from the need we both had to heal - I felt his grief as plainly as my own - but how to help him?
I felt certain that conventional methods of training would not do for this sensitive soul. I spent some months fumbling along with my own very limited knowledge of Natural Horsemanship and I knew it was making some difference but it was not enough.
Enter Adiva - from the very first day that she started to coach us I knew we were on the right track. Adiva knows instinctively what will work for the individual horse, recognizes immediately where the horse and rider are at and treats both with equal respect. Not only does she understand the language of the horse she also understands the "partnership" that exists between people and their horse partners, making her approach to coaching each "team" as unique as they are. Adiva has a "gift" that is made obvious the moment she steps into the presence of any horse; she is patient, focussed and relaxed, she exudes a confidence that can only be attributed to her knowledge and imparts that to the horse and rider.
After every lesson with Adiva I feel more connected, inspired and confident than ever and am left "chomping at the bit" (pardon the pun!) waiting for the next one! I would never have dreamed that I could have the kind of relationship with a horse that I now see emerging between Vagabond and I and yet I know we have only just scratched the surface! How exciting is that!? So through helping Vagabond and I to "join up" Adiva has been instrumental in helping both of us to heal.
~ Seonaid, Galiano Island BC
J-M Arabians
Adiva has worked with horses since she was a young child. She has always shown an empathy with horses, and was able to ride difficult horses with ease and confidence. During her pre-teen and teen years, she took lessons in various riding disciplines, including western, English, hunt seat, three day eventing, dressage and distance riding. She also traveled to Colorado to train with Pat Parelli in Natural Horsemanship. She took her own Arabian Stallion with her to the facility – this horse was about 7 years old and considered untrainable and unridable when we purchased him. Within a short period of time after arriving at the Parelli ranch, she was riding him with little more than a horseman string or rope halter.
She competed in the distance riding disciplines (competitive trail riding), her first Competitive Trail horse was an Arabian mare that had been a broodmare and was not trained. Within a period of 4 months, Adiva not only broke the mare to saddle, she trained and conditioned her to the point that she was able to compete in an intermediate event, winning the Junior Intermediate ride, and taking out the Junior horsemanship trophy, and came second in horsemanship overall in the Adult division (in a group of over 100 riders). At the time, Adiva was 11 years old.
Adiva assisted with all the operations of our horse breeding farm, from maintenance chores through working with the breeding operation and the business of running the farm. She assisted in preparation of both stallions and mares for breeding, and with foaling including helping with difficult foaling. She was responsible for foal imprinting and basic training of the foals. She also assisted with veterinary care when any of the horses were injured.
~ Maureen Rangitoterhiri Mother and onetime owner of J-M Arabians
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