Hello!

My Story

My mare continuously coming up with different kinds of (physical and behavioral) problems was one of the main reasons I decided to pursue bodywork. She was very clear in showing me that she was uncomfortable and was showing various signs of something clearly being ‘wrong’. But even after several different vets, chiropractors, acupuncturists, bringing her to a clinic to have her checked from head to toe, etc., I still wasn’t any closer to figuring out what was going on. Whatever bodywork modality I tried and/or whatever changes I made to other aspects of her life and training, things would often temporarily help, but would only last for a few days or weeks. That went on for a few years, until I finally heard of Osteopathy and tried an Osteopath instead – that was the first time I noticed improvements that seemed to last longer, and yet still, a lot of things kept coming back. I tried a few different Osteopaths and found one that made the biggest difference for my mare. She had trained at the same school I graduated from as well, and was finally able to help me achieve some long-lasting results and help my mare feel better overall.

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By that time, I had already decided to study a few other modalities in Germany, including equine thermography and equine acupuncture, and I’m glad I did, because especially acupuncture is a wonderful extension of Osteopathy!

I was really intrigued by what that Equine Osteopath EDO® was able to do, so that same day I went online to do some research on that particular school. After that it just became a matter of figuring out how to make it happen, but I knew that was what I wanted to be doing and that I wanted to go to that school. “The Vluggen Institute for Equine Osteopathy and Education” has one branch in Southern Germany (Waldfeucht) and one in the US (Florida).

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There are many schools for equine osteopathy in Germany, but most of the ones I looked at would only offer trainings that would last up to 1.5 years, nothing more. And for a lot of them, you only learned about a part of osteopathy (the parietal part) and you had to take extra courses for the visceral and cranio-sacral part of osteopathy. Which I don’t believe every one that calls themselves an equine osteopath does; hence the reason so many osteopaths I had out to treat my horse weren’t able to get to the root cause of what was going on, because they weren’t using the whole spectrum of osteopathy. Don’t get me wrong, they were definitely helping, but personally I was so sick of only being able to put band-aids on symptoms that were showing up and I wanted results that would last.

Deciding to go study at the Vluggen Institute was the best choice I could’ve made, not only in that regard. It’s a very extensive and in depth four year training to the highest standards of osteopathy. The founder of the school, Janek Vluggen, was a human Osteopath first, before he became one of the leading experts in equine osteopathy and then later creating the school. He wanted the training in equine osteopathy to be as good and to the level as human osteopathy was, which is why it is such a long and extensive training, with a lot of theory but also tons of hands-on practice.

After 4 years of intense studying at the Institute and passing my exam in July 2023, I became a registered Equine Osteopath EDO®. And after an additional Post-Graduate Course, I am now also a Canine Osteopath CDO®. Osteopathy is my passion, so I couldn't stop myself from wanting to further my osteopathic education, which is why I completed another 2.5 year training (in October 2026) studying Integrative Functional Bodywork for humans at the Ankrum Institute. This body of work is also based on osteopathic principles. 

I can easily say that going to the Vluggen Institute and studying osteopathy was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life so far. There were many times where I was questioning my path, didn’t believe I’d ever be able to retain all the information we needed to know and actually become an excellent osteopath. But working on and with humans, animals, and horses especially, and seeing how they respond to osteopathy, makes it more than worth it. I am very glad I stuck with it so that I can continue to help many other animals (human and otherwise) find a healthier balance – both mentally and physically.

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Because the psychosomatic effects on the body is something that is very important to consider, I continue to immerse myself in my own self-growth, working on my emotional well-being and wholeness, in order to be able to show up for you and your animal to the best of my ability.

I believe that only when we look at the body in its entirety, including the psychosomatic side of things, the environment, the social life, other inside and outside influences, etc., do we have a chance of finding the root cause and addressing it.