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- R. (Russell) MacKechnie-Guire
PhD, BHSI, BSc (Hons)
Russell MacKechnie-Guire holds a PhD in Equine Biomechanics, graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in 2019. Russell’s thesis was titled ‘The Relationship between Saddle and Rider Kinematics, Equine Locomotion, and Thoracolumbar Pressures in Sports Horses’.
Russell is based at Centaur Biomechanics, a company which he founded in 2006. He has extensively researched the effect that tack (saddle, bridle and girth) and the rider has on equine health and performance. Russell holds a post at Hartpury University as a Reader in Equine Biomechanics.
Russell’s current area of research is horse-saddle-rider interaction, spinal kinematics in horses when ridden over ground, the effect that rider asymmetry has on equine back movement, and from a rehabilitation perspective, the effect that training aids and pole work exercise has on back movement.
In addition, Russell collaborates with researchers on various research projects associated with equine health, rehabilitation and performance. Russell is a consultant for the British Equestrian Federations World Class, Team GBR programme and is a member of Team GBR’s Scientific Advisory Group. Russell also sits on the Society of Master Saddlers Scientific Advisory Group, and is part of the executive committee for the International Task force on Laterality in Sports Horses.
Russell is also a Pilates instructor, Intrinsic (Human) Biomechanics Trainer, a BHSI equestrian coach, and a keen competitor in dressage and show jumping.
P.R. (René) van Weeren
DVM, PhD, Dipl. ECVS, Prof.
René van Weeren graduated in 1983 from the Utrecht University, The Netherlands. He became a staff member of the Department of General and Large Animal Surgery in that year and obtained his PhD degree in 1989.
From 1991-1993 he worked as a visiting professor at the Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria of the Universidad Nacional in Heredia, Costa Rica. He became a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1994.
M.A. (Michael) Weishaupt
Dr.med.vet., PhD, Dipl. ACVSMR, Prof.
Michael Weishaupt graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 1989 at the University of Berne. Between 1990 and 1993 he worked as an assistant at the Swiss National Stud in Avenches and completed his doctoral thesis on “The relationship among local structural, biochemical and functional variables describing muscle oxidative capacity in horses and steers” at the Department of Large Animal Medicine of the University of Berne.
J.I.M. (Jeanne) Parmentier
MSc. Eng. PhD-c
Jeanne Parmentier (1995) graduated in 2018 from Biology Engineering at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne (France). Her Bachelor‘s (France) and Master’s (Texas, USA) research projects focused on developing measurement tools and algorithms to gather biomechanical information from horses and sheep inertial measurement units, 3D motion capture, and force plate data.
Once her diploma was obtained, she was hired as a research engineer by the École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort (France) and worked in close collaboration with the CIRALE in Normandie to develop an equine locomotion quantification tool.
F.M. (Filipe) Serra Bragança
DVM, PhD
Filipe Manuel Serra Bragança was born in 1988 in Portugal. He graduated in 2013, from the Veterinary University of Lisbon. After graduation, he performed his internship at an equine practice in the UK.
In 2014 he started his PhD at Utrecht University (the Netherlands) performing research in biomechanics and equine locomotion, focusing on objective gait analysis.
L (Lars) Roepstorff
DVM, PhD, Prof.
Lars Roepstorff graduated as a veterinary surgeon 1985. He has practised as an equine clinician both in private practice at different clinics and at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).
He has worked closely to equestrian sports with assignment as a national team vet and as a lecturer in continuing education of professional trainers. He has headed the department of Equine Studies at SLU.
A.M. (Aagje) Hardeman
DVM, PhD, IVCA-cert. chiropractor
Aagje Hardeman (1986) graduated from Utrecht University in 2012, as Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Afterwards, she did the BackBone Academy in Germany, to become a certified equine chiropractor. In 2014, she moved to Germany to work at Tierklinik Lüsche, one of the biggest referral clinics in Europe, where she has been part of the orthopaedic and rehabilitation team. Simultaneously, she did her PhD, supervised by Prof. Dr. Rene van Weeren (Utrecht) and Prof. Dr. Lars Roepstorff (Uppsala).