Debranne Pattillo, MEEBW, MSc.(h.c.), ASTR
As the founder of Equinology and Equi-Ink Publications, Debranne has dedicated her career to advancing the knowledge and understanding of equine anatomy, physiology and complementary health care. Through Equinology, she has pioneered innovative educational programs, professional bodywork certifications, and cutting-edge research initiatives that have set new standards in equine health and wellness, preparing her graduates to work effectively within professional care teams. Alongside Dr. Nicole Rombach and Dr. Carrie Schlachter, she also co-founded the Academy of Animal Sport Science, which offers an equine rehabilitation certificate program for licensed professionals and veterinarians.
Debranne’s textbook, Anatomy of Equine Bodywork: The Equinology® Approach (2018), encapsulates over 30 years of her experience, knowledge, techniques, and applications. In 2019, she launched the Equine Anatomy Learning Aid app to complement both the book and Equinology courses. Since 1994, Debranne has been the lead instructor for more than 400 equine sports massage and anatomy courses, teaching over 4,000 participants across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., South Africa, New Zealand, and beyond. She holds the Equinology® Master Equine Body Worker Certification, a rigorous qualification requiring over 2,000 hours of coursework, and is the author of the unique Equinology® Equine Body Worker Certification Course. This signature program is recognized as a professional qualification within the BSc in Equine Sports Therapy presented by Writtle Agricultural College and the University of Essex in the U.K. In recognition of her contributions to equine education, she was awarded an Honorary Master of Sciences Degree by Writtle University in 2019.
Debranne is the co-founder and past Chair of the U.S. division of the International Equine Body Worker Association (IEBWA), an organization dedicated to supporting and promoting ethical practices in equine bodywork. She currently serves as the Division Head of the IEBWA for the USA, Australia, and New Zealand.
Debranne approaches equine anatomy with the eyes of both a bodyworker and an artist. Her teaching is infused with her basic delight in both the anatomical precision that excellent bodywork requires and the dynamic variation that teaching anatomy on (mostly living, nibbling, opinionated) horses often presents. Her knack for seeing the bones and muscles with an artist’s eye and her unique way of taking the body apart, from the skin down to the bones, and putting it back together again — as a colored drawing, as an “air massage,” or as a painting done in chalk on a live horse — is a perspective that fuels her work as a bodywork practitioner and makes her a highly regarded educator in the field.
