Free House, an American Thoroughbred racehorse owned by John Toffan and Trudy McCaffery, was a horse that I helped with Shiatsu massage. Blood-Horse Publications called him one of the best California-bred horses of all time. In 1997 he was the dominant three-year-old in California racing. He had many racing successes in his dossier during that time. However, Free House started acting very strangely on the race track and had to be sent for rehab, which is when I started working on him.

Letter
To Whom it May Concern, It’s a pleasure to introduce Geary Whiting, who has been working with our thoroughbred race horses for several months. Geary is an athlete, understands athletes and appreciates that the horse responds to massage as the human athlete does. I have noticed significant and positive changes in our horses over the course of the last few months. They are more relaxed, happier, and move more freely. Moreover, Geary is a true professional. He is extremely thorough and always follows up on his treatments. It has been a pleasure working with him, and I strongly urge any athlete, human or equine, to take advantage of Geary’s skills.
Trudy McCaffery

First Session:
The first session I did on him was interesting, to say the least; he was in so much pain that he did not want to be touched. He had to be sedated and, even with sedation, he did his level best to avoid my ministrations and tried to hurt me. I was not surprised by his reaction. This type of behavior is not uncommon for racehorses because they are worked hard, under a lot of stress, and the message is not usually incorporated into their training regimen.

Second Session:
When I arrived for a second session with Free House, I found a completely different horse. He was eager to see me and started raising a ruckus when he heard me arrive. He came running up to me and placed his head on my shoulder. This second session was completely different. No sedation was needed. He stood there with his eyes closed, head hanging low, and lips quivering.

Return to Racing:
After rehab with Shiatsu massage as a part of the therapy, Free House returned to racing as a 5-year old. He first won the San Antonio Handicap. Then, he achieved the second biggest win of his career – defeating his rival Silver Charm and winning the Santa Anita Handicap. This was the reward for having me massage him…VICTORY!

I am happy to announce that I will be providing ZOOM sessions to my future, current and past students. The ZOOM meetings will provide continuing support and knowledge, with Question and Answer sessions. We will cover everything from equine issues students are encountering, to self promotion and marketing. All ZOOM attendees will have an opportunity to participate.

I will keep you posted!