ANIVADO: ANIVADO team & associates

ANIVADO Team


David van Doorn	Esther Peek	Roseanne Minderhoud
Director ANIVADO Education & Training	Consultant Equine Nutrition & Content Development Manager	Associated Equine Nutrition Consultant
David van Doorn PhD is the director and founder of EQUIVADO and ANIVADO. ANIVADO represents the online education platform and online education activities that David performs in cooperation with other experts. The website and name " EQUIVADO" represent David's equine nutrition consultant activities. Read more...	Esther Peek BSc studied Applied Biology at HAS University in ‘s Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. She chose the minor Applied Animal Science and graduated in 2019. Esther got in contact with ANIVADO when she did a project about horse nutrition in 2014. In 2015 she followed an internship at the equine clinic in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Utrecht. During this internship, Esther found her passion for equine nutrition. In 2017 she did a project on mastication behaviour in horses. Esther joined the ANIVADO team in 2018 as Junior Consultant Equine Nutrition & Content Development Manager.	Roseanne Minderhoud (MSc) finished the bachelor Applied Biology at HAS University 's-Hertogenbosch in 2018 and the master Animal Sciences at Wageningen University in 2020, with a double specialisation: Animal Nutrition & Adaptation Physiology. She joined the Anivado/Equivado team in 2020 as a content developer and junior consultant equine nutrition. She works with high-level performance riders such as Sanne Voets (paralympic gold medalist). She has also been involved in the monitoring of the French Olympic dressage and show jumping teams towards Tokyo and Paris together with Equine Integration.

David van Doorn

Esther Peek

Roseanne Minderhoud

Director ANIVADO Education & Training

Consultant Equine Nutrition &

Content Development Manager

Associated Equine Nutrition Consultant

David van Doorn PhD is the director and founder of EQUIVADO and ANIVADO. ANIVADO represents the online education platform and online education activities that David performs in cooperation with other experts. The website and name " EQUIVADO" represent David's equine nutrition consultant activities.

Lydia Trouborst-van Doorn

Marie Gillesen

Content Developer

Associated veterinarian

Lydia studied Animal Care & Management at the Groenhorst College, Barneveld, the Netherlands from 1997-1998. During her education, she worked part-time as an animal care keeper in a boarding kennel. After that, she worked as an Animal Carer at Rotterdam "Blijdorp" Zoo. From 1999-2014 Lydia has been working in the human resource & management at the local government of Rotterdam. In 2014 she shifted her career to go back to her roots and works now as a Content Developer of the ANIVADO platform.

Marie graduated from Utrecht University with an MSc in Equine Health as an equine veterinarian in 2021. Prior to this, she completed a BSc in Liberal Arts and Sciences from University College Utrecht. Since graduating she has been working as a mixed practice veterinarian in the South of The Netherlands, focusing primarily on equine medicine. Within her work as an ambulatory veterinarian, Marie focuses primarily on equine dentistry and managing equine patients with specific dietary needs. Marie is passionate about equine nutrition and preventative medicine and enjoys applying the latest theoretical knowledge to first-opinion practice.

ANIVADO Lecturers


Andrea D. Ellis	Carolien Munsters	Machteld van Dierendonck
Lecturer ANIVADO & Equine Nutritionist	Lecturer ANIVADO & Expert in Equine Sport Physiology	Lecturer ANIVADO & Expert in Equine Behaviour and Welfare
Dr Andrea Ellis is a renowned equine scientist, who has had horses in her blood from an early age both as an artist and scientist. She freely admits that she occasionally missed her first two school lessons and secretly went to see the training sessions at the Spanish Horse Riding School near her home in Vienna. Andrea's early research focused on food intake behaviour and nutrient digestion in horses and sheep and set her on a path of becoming a specialist in equine nutrition and behaviour. After working as a Scientific Researcher at the Research Institute for Applied Husbandry, Wageningen University Research, The Netherlands, for four years, she joined Nottingham Trent University as a Senior Lecturer, where she led the design of the MSc in Equine Health and Welfare and was Programme Leader of this course. Read more...	Dr Carolien Munsters holds an MSc in biology and worked as a senior project manager at the Equine Fieldlab at the Dutch Equestrian Centre. In 2010 she started Moxie Sport Analysis and Coaching, where she combines "research knowledge with (top)sport analysis to guide and support equine athletes, trainers and coaches”. In 2013 she completed her PhD on workload, fitness and welfare of riding horses at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University. She has been the official advisor for the Olympic eventing team regarding exercise testing and training programs for more than 8 years and guided the riders and horses towards the Olympic games in London and Rio. In addition, she advises and guides several international and national riders (eventing, dressage, showjumping, carriage driving, endurance) on how to optimise their training program for their horses. In preparation for numerous European and World championships, she analyses the fitness of sport horses (and teams) and helps them to construct an optimal training program towards their championships. Continued monitoring of all training sessions and competitions of these horses is her main focus as in this way training programs can be maintained most optimal for horse and rider. In addition, she gives numerous courses about equine exercise physiology as a certified lecturer of riders, trainers, physiotherapists and veterinarians and conducts several research projects in collaboration with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University.	Dr. Machteld van Dierendonck has been working as a behaviour specialist, scientist and practitioner in the field of (equine) behaviour and welfare (assessments) for the last 15 -20 years. She started working for the Equine Clinic of the Veterinary Faculty of Utrecht The Netherlands in 2001, since 2016 she founded and works as the clinical ethology specialist at the Equine Behavioural Referral Clinic at the same faculty. Besides these functions, she has established her own Equine Clinical Ethological referral practice Equus Research & Therapy. Since 2012 she is a part-time visiting professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine both in Ghent and Antwerp, for courses in (equine) Ethology and Animal Welfare. In 2010 she became board-certified as an associate of the ECAWBM as (Equine) Veterinary Behaviour Specialist; in 2013 she became also an associate for the subspecialty Animal Welfare Science-Ethics-Law. Her current work mainly consists of research, teaching (graduates and postgraduates), and treating equine patients with (additional) behaviour problems. In scientific research, the current focus is on measuring welfare in horses (at individual and farm levels) and pain and pain assessment in horses and donkeys (EPWA app). She now has> 30 peer-reviewed publications to her name and several scientific book chapters. She is a founding member of ISES (International Society of Equitation Science).

Andrea D. Ellis

Carolien Munsters

Machteld van Dierendonck

Lecturer ANIVADO &

Equine Nutritionist

Lecturer ANIVADO &

Expert in Equine Sport Physiology

Lecturer ANIVADO &

Expert in Equine Behaviour and Welfare

Dr Andrea Ellis is a renowned equine scientist, who has had horses in her blood from an early age both as an artist and scientist. She freely admits that she occasionally missed her first two school lessons and secretly went to see the training sessions at the Spanish Horse Riding School near her home in Vienna.

Andrea's early research focused on food intake behaviour and nutrient digestion in horses and sheep and set her on a path of becoming a specialist in equine nutrition and behaviour. After working as a Scientific Researcher at the Research Institute for Applied Husbandry, Wageningen University Research, The Netherlands, for four years, she joined Nottingham Trent University as a Senior Lecturer, where she led the design of the MSc in Equine Health and Welfare and was Programme Leader of this course.

Dr Carolien Munsters holds an MSc in biology and worked as a senior project manager at the Equine Fieldlab at the Dutch Equestrian Centre. In 2010 she started Moxie Sport Analysis and Coaching, where she combines "research knowledge with (top)sport analysis to guide and support equine athletes, trainers and coaches”. In 2013 she completed her PhD on workload, fitness and welfare of riding horses at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University.

She has been the official advisor for the Olympic eventing team regarding exercise testing and training programs for more than 8 years and guided the riders and horses towards the Olympic games in London and Rio. In addition, she advises and guides several international and national riders (eventing, dressage, showjumping, carriage driving, endurance) on how to optimise their training program for their horses. In preparation for numerous European and World championships, she analyses the fitness of sport horses (and teams) and helps them to construct an optimal training program towards their championships. Continued monitoring of all training sessions and competitions of these horses is her main focus as in this way training programs can be maintained most optimal for horse and rider.

In addition, she gives numerous courses about equine exercise physiology as a certified lecturer of riders, trainers, physiotherapists and veterinarians and conducts several research projects in collaboration with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University.

Dr. Machteld van Dierendonck has been working as a behaviour specialist, scientist and practitioner in the field of (equine) behaviour and welfare (assessments) for the last 15 -20 years. She started working for the Equine Clinic of the Veterinary Faculty of Utrecht The Netherlands in 2001, since 2016 she founded and works as the clinical ethology specialist at the Equine Behavioural Referral Clinic at the same faculty.

Besides these functions, she has established her own Equine Clinical Ethological referral practice Equus Research & Therapy. Since 2012 she is a part-time visiting professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine both in Ghent and Antwerp, for courses in (equine) Ethology and Animal Welfare.

In 2010 she became board-certified as an associate of the ECAWBM as (Equine) Veterinary Behaviour Specialist; in 2013 she became also an associate for the subspecialty Animal Welfare Science-Ethics-Law. Her current work mainly consists of research, teaching (graduates and postgraduates), and treating equine patients with (additional) behaviour problems. In scientific research, the current focus is on measuring welfare in horses (at individual and farm levels) and pain and pain assessment in horses and donkeys (EPWA app). She now has> 30 peer-reviewed publications to her name and several scientific book chapters. She is a founding member of ISES (International Society of Equitation Science).

Carina Steendam

Lecturer ANIVADO &

Equine Nutritionist

Carina Steendam holds a Master’s Degree in Animal Nutrition from Wageningen University (WUR). She has been involved in research projects related to the nutrition of monogastric animals (e.g. J Nutr 2004, 134(11), 3076-3082). She has a special interest in the effects of antinutritional plant components on gastrointestinal tract health.

Carina is a lifelong horse lover, an amateur rider, and a riding instructor. Together with her partner, she is a keen breeder of KWPN horses. She has been a lecturer at the van Hall University of Applied Science with an emphasis on equine nutrition, but also on teaching equine behaviour and exercise physiology. She writes for equestrian magazines and a professional magazine of the feed industry to educate a wide audience about equine nutrition and health. She is the author of various articles related to horse nutrition in the Netherlands and she aims to bridge the gap between science and practical feeding management. Her enthusiasm for nutritional sciences equals her love for horses, and according to her, equine nutrition is combining the best of both worlds.

ANIVADO Language Managers

Coby Bolger

Shirley Ferber

Spanish Translation Manager

Hebrew Translation Manager

Coby Bolger is committed to the health, welfare and performance of the domestic horse and developing communication strategies to make this information easily available to horse enthusiasts.

An experienced rider and specialist in equine nutrition and fitness for over 20 years, Coby works with prestigious investigative scientists in the United States and Europe, teaching, conducting studies and developing best practice strategies for equine management.

As an equine nutritionist, Coby Bolger works daily with equine vets, horse owners, breeders and feed mills to develop science-based rations and exercise strategies according to designated objectives.

Trained, through numerous courses, hands-on studies, conferences and research projects, in the United States through Kentucky Equine Research, in the UK with Waltham Equine Studies Group and through the European Workshop for Equine Nutrition (EWEN) among others, Coby Bolger has worked to increase the knowledge base of equine nutrition in Spain. Over the past 20 years with this objective, she has published books, carried out scientific studies focused on foal growth, gastric ulcers and other topics and spoken as a guest lecturer at universities, conferences, clinics, radio and television shows.

Shirley Ferber (MSc) received her BSc in Natural Sciences from Israel Open University in 2017, and her MSc in Equine Science from the University of Edinburgh in 2020. Specialising in equine nutrition and welfare, she works as an independent equine nutritionist and researcher, the first one in Israel. Shirley has founded the EQUIDA organisation, making evidence-based knowledge regarding equines accessible in Hebrew and Arabic, in an effort to improve equine health and welfare in Israel and the Middle East. Shirley joined the ANIVADO team in 2022 as a Hebrew Translation Manager.

Last modified: Thursday, 7 December 2023, 2:26 PM