Why do Nurses Ride?

Look around your barn. How many nurses are there? Chances are there are at least a few. Why do so many nurses ride? Are riders drawn to nursing? Are nurses drawn to riding? Do riders just need a secure income to fund their addiction? One nurse says that horses are her passion and being with her horse is therapeutic and good for the soul. We definately need that after working in the random and heartless world of disease. Horses teach us lessons of compassion and empathy. And they make it easy. They don't question your every move and motivation. Your horse may not understand your moves, but they try. When it feels like your compassion is all used up, horses help to get it back. Horses love you for trying, even if you're not successful. Horses teach the value of hard work and perseverence. They teach you patience. Perhaps nurses know that they have to keep refreshing themselves at the well of patience in order to face another day. And let's not forget humility. You will never be "too full of yourself" if you ride, which in turn loops back to perseverence. Another nurse quoted Helen Thompson and said that "In riding a horse, we borrow freedom." Nurses need times of freedom from the burdens of other people's misery. You have to empty your mind and focus when you ride (lest you get yourself killed). Horses have been called the nobelest of creatures and nursing a nobel profession. Naturally it's a match made in heaven.