Department of
Occupational Therapy

Dizney 136
Kathy.Splinter-Watkins@eku.edu
(859) 622-6322

• Graduate Certificate in Hippotherapy, Western Michigan University
• MOT in Occupational Therapy, Texas Woman’s University
• BS in Zoology, University of Nebraska

Kathryn Splinter-Watkins teaches as Associate Professor in the Bachelor of Science
program of Occupational Science. Courses taught include Self as an Occupational Being, Professional
Dynamics, Occupation across the Lifespan, Occupation By Design, and Equine Assisted Activity.
Areas of expertise include occupational therapy fieldwork, occupational therapy for eating disorders,
mental health, and pediatrics, equine assisted activity (therapeutic horseback riding) and
Hippotherapy. Professor Splinter-Watkins served as Level II Fieldwork Coordinator at Eastern
Kentucky University for 18 years, and she served as the Academic Fieldwork Coordinator on the
American Occupational Therapy Association's Commission on Education. She received the Eastern
Kentucky University National Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence in 1993, and the KOTF
Deborah R. Labovitz Award in 2007.

Involved in therapeutic horseback riding since 1981, she volunteers with Central Kentucky Riding
for Hope (CKRH) in Lexington, Kentucky as consulting occupational therapist and riding instructor.
She received her Hippotherapy Clinical Specialist Certificate (HPCS) and now serves on the
American Hippotherapy Certification Board. Kathy enjoys riding her own horse for pleasure
and working with her husband, Steve, on their thoroughbred farm with mares and foals.

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