By the time Olivia Murphy could walk and talk, she could also ride a horse.

“This little pony farm came to my preschool, so I begged my parents to let me ride,” Murphy said. “My kindergarten teacher’s daughter gave lessons, so I started riding with her.”

Murphy, a sophomore history major and member of the WSU Equestrian Club Team, hopes to become a teacher.

She said she fell in love with riding right away.

Murphy started with a pony, and rode him until she outgrew him in middle school. Afterward she leased three other horses, and in seventh grade she was given her own.

“When I was six I made a deal with my parents,” she said. “When I turned 12, they would buy me a horse. So every year I had to prove I was still interested.”

One day Murphy’s trainer called and asked her to a ride a horse in a video. The horse was to be sold.

Such an opportunity doesn’t come along often, Murphy said, so her parents came to watch.

Afterward, Murphy’s parents asked whether she enjoyed riding the horse. She liked the horse.

Her parents’ response was ‘Good, because we bought him for you,’ she said.

“I had Murphy for four years then he got injured, so my parents made me sell him,” she said. “I didn’t really have the motivation to ride after that, so I didn’t ride for the rest of high school.”

When Murphy came to WSU she was invited to join the Equestrian Club team, which is currently in its first year.

“One of my biggest accomplishments this year is just getting back into riding and placing fourth out of twelve in advanced walk, trot and canter,” she said.

Murphy said joining the team meant transitioning to catch riding.

“You pull a horse you know nothing about in a high pressure situation, it is really high-stress and it can be dangerous, but you become a better rider,” she said.

Murphy enjoys being a part of the team, but more than anything she enjoys having a personal relationship with her horse.

“My favorite thing about riding is the relationship you build with the horse you are riding,” she said. “Like a dog, they love you no matter what, and the more you work with them, the more they like you and no one else.”

Murphy has been around horses all her life and wants to keep it that way.

“Someday I want to have a barn or a farm of my own and raise my kids to ride or have a horse breeding facility and sell them,” she said. “I definitely don’t see myself in a life without horses.”