Millcreek Community Hospital
Nurse Rides to Victory By Melissa J. Dixon
Poulson competes with her horse named Regalia, affectionately called Reggie. Photo contributed by Cindy Poulson
and Prix St. Georges enable them to earn a silver medal. Her secret to winning? “I’ve had good, correct training for me and my horse. And I keep it fun.”
Cindy Poulson, an R.N. at Millcreek Community Hospital (MCH), is an award-winning equestrian. Photo by Greg Wohlford/Erie Times-News
W
orking as a registered nurse requires stamina and is charged with challenges. Cindy Poulson, an R.N. who currently works in outpatient surgery endoscopy at Millcreek Community Hospital (MCH), operates on adrenaline. She also thrives as an award-winning equestrian. Poulson’s been competing for 11 years on her current horse, Regalia, affectionately called “Reggie.” Her daughter, Caiti, who also works at MCH, was the first to take lessons. Poulson’s husband, Randy (who consequently also works at MCH), encouraged Cindy to participate after witnessing the joy it brought Caiti. Now the equestrians run three generations deep because her granddaughter rides, too.
12 • Lake Erie Lifestyle • June 2022
Poulson’s goals are to receive a gold medal in the Grand Prix and to qualify for regionals at the Intermediare level. But she’s no stranger to winning. She’s been the grand champion every year for each level she entered in the NODA Championship Show. “The biggest highlight of my equestrian career happened in the 2019 show season,” Poulson said. “I moved up to the Intermediare level, and we were having some trouble with some of the movements in that test. I was frustrated ... until my trainer, Wendi Skelly, surprised me and told me I earned half of my gold medal – and qualified for the regional horse show!” As competitors advance levels, they receive medals from the United States Dressage Federation. They have to earn a certain amount of scores from a certain amount of judges. For the first through third levels, they can earn a bronze medal. Fourth level
In addition to riding horses and working as a nurse at the LECOM Health hospital, Poulson babysits her 8-month-old grandson. Juggling schedules and stress can be a challenge, but having a good support system makes everything possible. “If it weren’t for my husband, it would be really hard,” she said. “And riding my horse is absolutely therapeutic. It’s as if all the stresses of a workday just melt away as I’m driving to the barn. By the time I get there, no matter the weather, it’s a bright, sunny day. Riding Reggie brings such peace. I have a strong partnership with her.” This September will mark 29 years that Poulson has worked at MCH. She started in the original emergency room, transitioned to the new emergency room, then started giving stress tests in the heart station, and eventually moved to endoscopy where she has been for the past 20 years. During the last four years she’s cross-trained into endoscopy outpatient surgery and the Post Anesthesia Care Unit. Poulson graduated from Purdue University in 1986 with an associate degree in nursing and an associate degree in English.
