Most people's second job is a complete switch from what they do during the day.

Not Myrna Outerbridge, a dental hygienist by day, who also spends her spare time caring for the dental needs of the Island's horse population as Bermuda's only Certified Equine Dentist (CEQD).

She is a perfect example that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. The mother-of-two was 40 years old when she decided a couple of years ago that she wanted to become an equine dentist.

While husband Alvin and daughters Camille and Allison were supportive, some family members and friends had their doubts.

"They thought I was crazy, they didn't think I was going to persevere," said Mrs. Outerbridge this week.

"I think it is a higher power that is driving me."

But Mrs. Outerbridge is nothing if not determined and off she went to Idaho to the School of Equine Dentistry in Glennsferry. She returned there every six months for about a year-and-a-half to gain her certification, becoming, in the process, the first black female to certify from the School of Equine Dentistry.

"Here I was, over 40 years of age, finding a school on the internet, flying out to Idaho which was three plane trips away and didn't know where I was going or how to get there.

"I definitely had second thoughts, only because of the amount of money that it took. I had to take out a second mortgage on our house, but my husband was in full support. I also had a lot of people within the horse community telling me 'you can do it, Myrna'.

"The horse is here to serve us and I believe I'm here to service them."

Just how far she has come would no doubt surprise a former teacher at Whitney Institute who told a then five-year-old Myrna Postlethwaite that she would never amount to anything. She looked headed in that direction when the school asked her to leave a year away from graduation because of her deportment. She was out of school for a year and worked as a teller before she returned to complete high school in the United States.

"They thought they would get rid of the rude one, but I don't think I was rude, just a vocal leader," she said with a smile.

"So I went away to finish high school, at MCI (Maine Central Institute in Pittsville, Maine), and then from there went to Westbrook College in Portland, Maine to do a Liberal Arts degree. Then I went to the University of Maryland for a Bachelor of Science degree in Hygiene.

"I came home, got married, had children and worked for several dentists over a 20-year period. Then I come across another profession after 20 years. Here is a high school dropout who they said would never amount to anything!"

Since then she has been a candy stripper, volunteered for St. John Ambulance Brigade, a gospel soloist and is presently the Deputy Island-wide Commissioner for the Girl Guide Association.

"The motivating factor was the person who told me I would never amount to anything," she revealed.

"It was an expatriot teacher who still works here in the system."

Becoming interested in horses was natural for Mrs. Outerbridge whose father, Donald Postlethwaite, owned horses. Her daughters, aged 14 and 11, are two of the Island's promising young riders, with Allison recently winning a Denton Hurdle award. Even her husband has a love of horses (his father trained them) and often helps her when she equilibrates and re-aligns horses mouths, after they have been sedated by a veterinarian.

"In dentistry they try to balance the mouth so that we can function and it is the same thing in horses, balancing the mouth so that they can function better," she explained.

Horses, she said, show discomfort in many ways. "But because horses are very loyal animals if they are in pain they will still do what you ask," she revealed.

To understand the challenges facing domesticated horses is to understand how they live in the wild.

"In the wild they are eating grass and grinding their teeth all day long, so the teeth grind down," explained Mrs. Outerbridge.

"What I do is called rasping (filing) because the horse's teeth are continually growing. Depending on the horse and the needs of the horse and depending on their environment and how much they graze, you should see the horse, if not, every six months then at least once a year for treatment.

"Earl Godfrey helps as my assistant, as my husband does, and rarely do I do a horse without one of them with me."

It is estimated there are about 500 horses in Bermuda and Mrs. Outerbridge has already built a solid clientele for a service that was previously provided twice a year by a visiting equine dentist from England.

"I'm surprised no other Bermudian has taken on that," said Mrs. Outerbridge.

"A lot of people don't even know that a horse needs a dentist, that they need to be balanced every six months.

"I have several barns where I see their horses. I just got certified and would like to increase my clientele to more horses and more barns. I'm here to service the horses, it's not a money making thing for me.

"And if it wasn't for the horse that I came upon I probably would have never done it."

The horse she was referring to was a pony at Spicelands named Tucker which her youngest daughter Allison was riding. She could see Tucker was in some discomfort and with a six month wait before the equine dentist returned from England. That prompted Mrs Outerbridge to investigate the profession on the internet.

"Being a hygienist and inquisitive as I am, I thought 'wow, this horse is going to be in pain'," said Mrs Outerbridge.

"Every day I went in the horse was constantly grinding his teeth and not riding properly. I decided to look on the internet and see what was up and the more I investigated the more I saw there was definitely a need for dentistry for horses."

Presently Mrs. Outerbridge sees four or five horses a week. As the demand for her services increase she knows she will one day have to make a decision between her two jobs. She has been a hygienist for 20 years.

"Eventually I would like to do more horse days than hygiene days, everybody knows that," she conceded.

"I believe that I have a very good foundation to go from. The school I went to in Idaho, I was going back to every six months and I'm going to continue that because I want to do the advanced certification and then master dentist certification.

"It's been a tremendous sacrifice but I believe what you put out you get back in return. Not to say I'm looking to get anything back other than the satisfaction of knowing that the horses are out of pain."

Mrs. Outerbridge believes overcoming fear is the major obstacle on the way to success and that a higher power guided her.

"If you keep telling yourself that fear is a demon in itself you will get over that fear," she advised.

"God said he didn't give you a spirit of fear, but power and a sound mind. I have the power to do anything I want to do through Jesus Christ. And that fear is not going to stop me from doing anything I want to do."

She admits she wouldn't have considered such a profession had she not been around horses so much.

"And if that horse hadn't come to my life and made me dream at night..." she said of Catrina Adcock's horse.

"The horse wouldn't leave me along. Whenever I came around it would grind its teeth and then I would go home and dream about this horse."