Lectures & presentations

Lecturing at regional, national and international conferences for veterinarians and equine professionals

The unique approach lies in illuminating clinically relevant topics from various perspectives. Whether it concerns biomechanical principles, functional assessment methods, or therapeutic techniques: the lectures challenge conventional thinking and integrate diverse viewpoints – from veterinary medicine, biomechanics, functional neurology, and exercise therapy – to provide the audience with a comprehensive, nuanced understanding of complex equine health issues.

Kirstin Becker's lecture portfolio

Equine Anatomy & Biomechanics

• Functional Anatomy, Biomechanics & Biotensegrity
• From the pasture horse in the field to the riding horse
• Conformation or posture?
• Fascia & myofascial dysfunctions
• Workshop: Feel the Horse: Discovering Anatomy Through Practice
• Understanding dressage horse dynamics
• Understanding the dynamics of show jumping horses
• Is everything normal with you? Common variations and malformations and their possible clinical effects
• Hypermobility in horses: A curse or a blessing?
• Identifying anatomical structures and biodynamic relationships: Accompanying horse dissections (Switzerland/USA)

Functional Evaluation of the Horse

• Functional analysis as afoundation for training & rehabilitation
• Fundamentals of palpation
• Palpation scan of painful structures

Observational Skills & Gait Analysis

• How are you doing? – Gait analysis
• Leg axis stability, turns, etc.
• Uneven, off or lame?
• Pathways of lameness development
• Lameness detection
• Clumsy, unbalanced, or ataxic gait?
• Compensation patterns & stabilization strategies
  

Hoof Care

• How does the hoof get its shape?
• No hoof, no horse
• Poor hoof quality – always a feeding problem?
• Thrush examined more closely: More than just a cosmetic problem
• Asymmetric hooves – crooked horse (or vice versa?) Asymmetrical hooves, examination and management
• Effects of hoof deformation and imbalances on the body and vice versa
• Negative palmar/plantar angle of the coffin bone – effects and management
• Possible effects of shoeing modifications
• Alternative hoof protection: Pros and cons

Treatment of the Horse

• Anchor Release Technique (ART) by Kirstin Becker
  
• Functional analysis in diagnostics & therapy
• Myofascial examination, diagnosis and treatment
• When things get "stuck": Treatment of peripheral nerves
• Fundamentals of manual therapies (physiotherapy, chiropractic, osteopathy)
• Chiropractic Techniques (Basic & Advanced)
• Osteopathic Techniques (Basic & Advanced)
• Introduction to Craniosacral Therapy
• Manual therapy “puzzle pieces”
• Specific characteristics of different body regions: head & neck, cervical spine, cervical junction, thoracic and lumbar spine, pelvic region, limbs
• The “forgotten” regions: Around the radius and tibia
• Treatment of the tail
• Treatment of the diaphragm
• Treatment of scars & castration scars

Training & Rehabilitation

• Training physiology
• Functional training fundamentals
• Functional biodynamics of the ridden horse
• Constitution, physique and training
• Advantages of individual training therapy
• Pause management during training: Physical and mental aspects
• Training aids – support or torture device?
• Getting out of the dead end street (solutions when training isn't progressing)
• Horse-rider-saddle interaction
• Recognizing and addressing rider-related problems
• Effects of rider seat and aids on the horse's load
• Training horses with ECVM
• Rehabilitation of horses with: cervical spine pathologies, hypoactive trunk muscles, kissing spine syndrome, sacroiliac joint problems, …
• The Girthy Horse: What's behind it?
• LDR (low deep round/Rollkur) training and its effects
• Triage for horse trainers: When things aren't progressing: continue with training, therapist, or veterinarian?

Functional Disorders & Functional Consideration of Pathologies

• Muscular imbalances: Why, what for, and how come?
• Shivering, Stringhalt & Co.
• Horse cannot give one leg
• Differential diagnoses: Stumbling
• Differential diagnoses:Over at the knee
• Differential diagnoses: Sensitivity to touch
• Differential diagnoses: Horse cannot lift its back
• Differential diagnoses: Short striding
• Lameness in riding horses: Common causes and prevention strategies

Horse Husbandry & Management

• Functional aspects of raising young horses
• Effects of slow feeders
• “Young and Done” – Dealing with young, “unfit for work” horses
• Horse blankets, bandages & more: A closer look at the equipment

Behavior, Connection & Functional Neurology

• Receptor-based manual therapy: What happens in the body when we apply treatment impulses?
• Paresis and paresthesia in horses
• How are you, horse? Recognizing well-being, stress, tension, and pain
• Difficult horse or horse in trouble?
• The senses of the horse: Different perceptions of the same world (reception and processing of environmental stimuli)
• Learning behavior
• A "difficult" horse = a stressed horse?

Communication:

• Did you get it? The different human learning styles
• The human side of animal patients: Customer communication for manual therapists
• Workshop: A day for the relationship (horse – human)
• Different perspectives on horses: Everyday topics illuminated from various viewpoints.
• And yet they do communicate: Horse body language



+ Customized presentations for your event