By By MARCIA STEFFENS / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS – Working with an animal much larger and taller doesn't bother Dr. Nicole Boyland, but she does have her share of broken bones.
During her internship in northern Virginia, Boyland was trampled by a horse and suffered a broken back.
For three months she could only lie in pain.
Her back has healed and the 2005 graduate of Michigan State has come closer to her Rochester home, joining Bergman Veterinary Medical Center, 906 E. State St., Cassopolis.
Her goal to become a veterinarian started 18 years ago, when she was 8 and her black Labrador was hit by a car. The vet saved the family pet and inspired a young girl.
"I have always liked animals and this has been my focus through school," she said. Luckily, she liked science.
She rode horses and showed dressage, even competing for MSU while she was in graduate school.
"I broke my leg while riding in college," she said. "It goes with the territory." If she had become a small animal vet, she anticipated getting bit.
Horses are her favorites and it is hard for her to not have one for herself.
She sold hers to help pay for medical school. She does get to travel to Lexington, Ky., to see her friend, who works on a race farm.