Geary Whiting Equine Massage School

Do yourself a favor and read Frank’s thorough review. I wholeheartedly agree with most if not all of his fair, accurate assessment. In this instance, it truly would have paid for me to Unilocal prior to booking.
I opted to leave Mr. Whiting’s course and forego my non-​refundable deposit. It was not an easy decision as I had truly wanted to further my equine massage studies at the time. I soon realized that after less than 24 hours onsite, actual horse time would be at a minimum and that my remaining tuition would be better spent elsewhere. Equine massage therapy would have to be shelved for now after this costly lesson.
Items of note to consider before attending Mr. Whiting’s training:
— No actual horses where you stay.
— Despite what it says on his website, horse anatomy will not be a focus. Geary Whiting believes «all you need to give a good massage is to know the meridian lines.» Disheartening. There’s intuitive equine meridian massage and then there’s laying a solid equine physiological and behavioral knowledge foundation beforehand.
— There is a 15 mile roundtrip off Highway One on a rocky dirt road to the encampment where you’ll be staying. If you bring your own car, be prepared. Also, his place is 30 minutes south of Big Sur in Gorda, near Treebones Resort.
–Enjoying camping and rustic life are a must. Cabin space is not always possible and you will most likely not have a bathroom nearby. He did buy nice new tents and sleeping bags. (Sleeping under the Gorda sky for a night was honestly the best part of this ordeal.)
— Bring provisions (esp. if you’re gluten intolerant.) Some food NOT all is provided. I paid out-​of-​pocket upon arrival for dinner. The Whalewatcher’s food was good but the additional expense after the long drive was unanticipated.
— Disproportionate horse to student ratio
— Ask any and all the questions you may have BEFORE sending a deposit.
— If you are not Christian: BEWARE. This man will reference God’s word and often. I’m not opposed at all to bible study. I didn’t sign up for Vacation Bible School though. After he referenced multiple passages during his first «class» and went on and on, I I finally raised my hand and said, «I appreciate your views. What does this have to do with equine massage though?» That obviously did not make him happy but I was beginning to see the forest for the trees at that point. I thought hands-​on horse experience would be the focus; not a weeklong soliloquy on God’s word, Obama and the world according to Geary Whiting.
— Geary believes it is he personally who «fixes and heals» people and animals. As a believer that I’m a conduit for the energy from above that passes through my hands and it is not my power alone that does the healing work, we strongly differed on this point.
One last foreboding bit that when I look back, I have to laugh was that when I paid my $ 500 deposit he sent me a smashed, dirty training DVD and a handwritten note that advised this was the only one left in his motorcycle bag and that he’d trade for a new one upon arrival. Never did receive a DVD to watch. I was not worthy apparently since he wouldn’t be getting another dime out of me. I first wondered if this was part of the scam but then I just chalked it up to the whole experience. Had I seen the video, would I have traveled to learn from him? Who knows?
I was sold on hands-​on equine massage training in Big Sur, CA. Too good to be true? Indeed.
/​/​UPDATE: Geary Whiting has now revamped his website. Certain statements no longer appear. Unsurprising. Also: based on Unilocal’s unfortunate algorithm two reviews are «not recommended». Both are legitimate and were written for the same reason I wrote mine: to hopefully save someone from having to go through what we experienced. Neither were Unilocal users prior so basically the automated system is letting Geary Whiting receive a 3 star rating based only on 2 reviews except what the average would truly be if all 4 were taken into consideration.//