Dr. Debra Marie Powell is the new Program Manager for Hocking College’s Equine Sciences program.
Dr. Powell owns and operates a mobile small business, Powell’s Equine and Canine Therapeutic Services (PECTS). With this business, she provides alternative therapies, including massage, therapeutic laser, therapeutic ultrasound and pulsed electromagnetic therapy, among others, to horses, dogs and cattle. She also provides nutritional and pasture management consulting for her equine clients.
Her primary areas of interest have been in equine nutrition, and how nutrition and exercise work together to benefit horses. In addition, Dr. Powell earned the following certifications:
Dr. Powell is also an accomplished author who writes a bi-monthly column for the international magazine Arabian Finish Line. She’s also contributed to The Horse, Horse Management, Arabian Horse Life, Practical Horsemen and Equus.
She’s also author of the textbook “Anatomy and Physiology of the Equine Digestive System Just Facts…No Fillers,” and authored the chapter “Equestrian Spaces” for the textbook “Facility Planning and Design for Health, Physical Activity, Recreation and Sport, 14th Ed” by Thomas H. Sawyer.
During her career Dr. Powell has won the Sister Mary Joseph Pomeroy Award for Faculty Excellence for Scholarship from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and Academic Advisor of the Year from the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical institute.
In 2012, Dr. Powell was invited to speak at a workshop for the International Conference on Equine Exercise Physiology in Liverpool, England.
She also served as the Equine Physiotherapist for the 1998 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as the 2012 games in London.
She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics and serves as the co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for that association. In addition, she serves on the standing committee for student competitions in the Equine Science Society and is the national advisor for the Collegiate Horsemen’s Association.
She was also recently featured in the Spring 2021 edition of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association’s Kentucky Alumni Magazine.
Her primary duties as Hocking College’s Equine Sciences Program Manager include planning and overseeing the development, management and promotion of the equine programs; teaching classes; providing students with academic program development and student academic advising; leading progress review and accreditation efforts; supervising full-time and adjunct faculty, and engaging in Hocking College’s Leisure Learning programs.
Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, offers three majors that involve horses: Wilderness Horsemanship, Equine Health and Complementary Therapies, and Farrier Science.
Each major is a two-year program that involves the interactive, hands-on learning of the skills necessary to succeed in your future careers.
As most farriers are self-employed, the business portion of the program provides students with basic skills like management and accounting and more advanced skills.
Coupled with classes in equine business management, marketing and accounting, graduates of the program will gain the skills they'll need to start their own business.
For more information on Hocking College's Equine Science programs, contact Program Manager Dr. Debra Powell by email at powelld38679@hocking.edu or by phone at 740-753-7151.