About Raph Kennedy
From her first breath Raph was a typical horse-mad girl from a non-horsey family. Every photo of a horse was cut out and saved from magazines and every horse seen in a paddock could not be passed without being patted and given carrots. Her long-suffering family had to scour shopping malls and book stores for model horses, horse novels and anything horsey, as no other birthday or Christmas present would be accepted. Riding lessons arrived when she was tall enough and she was soon a familiar sight at Kiora Riding School in Randwick, NSW, and Blackwood Park Equestrian Centre in Gippsland, Victoria, where her solid foundations in horse management and riding were begun. A super little pony called Moonlight taught her to respect and manage highly strung horses, and from there she went on to Thoroughbreds.
In 1995 Raph spent a year at the Highlands Equestrian Centre, Sutton Forest, NSW, where she fine-tuned her horse-management and riding skills and achieved her Equestrian Australia Level One (General) Coaching qualifications. She managed this feat on 3 borrowed horses from the riding school as her horse was injured. These were horses she regularly taught lessons on. When the time came for them to step up for her on the Level One exam day, she said they grew wings for her!
She has since taught for riding schools such as Darkes Forest Ranch in NSW and Nara Road and Kersbrook Equestrian Centres in South Australia, as well as freelance coaching in NSW. Raph’s coaching specialty is getting people started in new things. She coaches a dressage club, jumping and eventing clinics at Darkes Forest for people wanting a stepping stone between training and going out to compete. All are welcome, regardless of your individual ambitions or your horses ability.
Raph's first pony Moonlight also introduced her to Equine Therapy: when the pony wasn't sore, she was a legend, but when she was sore, she would neatly rear and flip over backwards. Raph took advice from her pony, and from her longtime mentor Dianne Jenkins, and studied Equine Body Work with Equinology USA and Equine Acupressure with Tallgrasses USA.
Today, through her business The Equine Angel, Raph serves the horse industry:
- as an Equine Body Worker, specialising in Bio Mechanics, traveling across NSW treating horses of all disciplines and conducting equine massage starter clinics.
- as an instructor, offering horse management clinics, providing coach education and assessing new coaches, and lecturing at TAFE.
Qualifications
- Equine Body Worker — since 2003 (EBW)
- Certificate III in Equine Nursing — since 2008
- Diploma of Horse Industry Management — since 2009
- NCAS/EFA Level 1 (General) Instructor — since 1996
- Jumping Equitation Judge — since 1998
- Pony Club Level 1 Instructor — since 1995
- Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment — since 2004
- Official EA Steward — since 2010
Raph has also attended courses and received instruction in a range of areas:
- Member, International Equine Bodywork Association (IEBWA)
- Sharon May Davis — Full Body Dissection
- Equinology EQ100 Foundation Body Work Course (USA) with Debranne Patillo
- Equinology Equine Stretching (USA) with Debranne Patillo
- Equinology EQ103 Advanced Body Work Course (USA) with Sarah
- Equinology Saddlefitting and Shoeing Dynamics (USA) with Dr Kerry Ridgeway (Vet)
- Equinology EQ900 Full Body Dissection (USA) with Deb Bennet
- Equinology Myofascial Release (USA)
- Equinology & Upledger Institute Cranial Sacral Therapy (USA)
- Acupressure with Nancy Zidonis, Amy Snow and Marie Soderberg (USA)
- McLaren Photonic Therapy (Dr Brian McLaren)
- ERLT (Equine Red Light Therapy) with Equinology (Presenter - Dianne Jenkins)
- Introduction to Massage with Dianne Jenkins
- Introduction to Acupressure with Dianne Jenkins
- One-on-one Mentoring with Dianne Jenkins
Coach Educator and Assessor for: - Certificate III & IV in Recreational Coaching — Equestrian (www.horseridingcoach.com)
TAFE Lecturer, Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) — Horse module of Companion Animal Husbandry — 2006-2008
Equestrian volunteer: - Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Horsley Park NSW — all disciplines
- Olympic Test Event, Horsley Park NSW — Cross Country phase
- Stewarding at Horse Trials held at SIEC
Event co-ordination: - Wirrina Horse Trials SA — Dressage phase (2001)
- Darkes Forest Riding Club Annual Chicken Run
Judging:
- Dressage judging and instruction at various riding and Pony Clubs in NSW and SA
- Jumping equitation judging and instruction at various riding and Pony Clubs in NSW
Cross Country Jump Judging:
- Reynella Horse Trials SA
- Jupiter Creek Horse Trials SA
- Adelaide International Horse Trials SA
- Various Pony Club one-day events in NSW and Victoria