© 1997 -
by Master Thomas Coxon
Authentic Feng Shui
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Feng Shui -
Feng Shui in Business -
Calke Abbey Racing Stables -
Turlough’s Story
At Calke Abbey racing stables, trainer Turlough Donnelly looked at some of his most promising youngsters and almost cried, he felt so helpless. Yet another mystery virus was sweeping across his yard, leaving his horses listless. Conventional veterinary treatment had repeatedly failed to help, which Turlough found frustrating and upsetting.
“The virus baffled vets,” he recalls. “Tests showed low white blood cell counts, but the results were always inconsistent. As vets didn’t know what they were dealing with they couldn’t fix it. In a racing yard you accept that there may be a virus every couple of years, but for the past 10 years we’ve had viruses every season and the horses find it hard to shake the off.”
Turlough’s wife Sally, felt sorry for her husband. “He’s a good trainer,” she says, “but never seemed to get any of the luck you need in racing. In 9 out of 10 photo finishes his horse would be second, or if a horse cast a shoe or got sick it would be one of his.
One day Sally switched on her radio and heard a programme about Feng Shui. “It was really interesting and I began wondering if Feng Shui could help our horses.” Sally, who describes herself as quite intuitive, had often experienced a vague feeling that the problem with Turlough's luck and the horses' health was somehow linked to the yard. "It was gut instinct," she says, "but I decided to talk to Turlough about getting a Feng Shui consultant in."
Turlough, although sceptical, was desperate enough to try anything.
The visit
That was several months ago. "I'd never done a consultation at a stable yard before but can rarely resist a challenge," says Thomas, admitting, "I've never ridden, except on a cart horse when I was two. I love animals though and know horses, especially Thoroughbreds, are very intuitive. They certainly know if they are in 'good' spaces or not."
This made sense to Turlough, who was well aware how vital it is that everything in a racing yard is 'spot on' if horses are to reach their full potential. Thomas believes buildings and objects retain the energy of previous occupants.
"Everything has a psychic residue, including stables which can absorb the atmosphere of what has happened in the past, good and bad," he says.
Feng Shui remedies such as 'space clearing' (including disposing of clutter and placement of crystals and wind chimes) can help, but are only a temporary fix if the root cause of the problem isn't determined.
"When I arrived at the stables, I employed the basic principles of Feng Shui," Thomas explained. "I took compass readings and applied different types of analysis to see what was happening. One included the 'Flying Star' system which charts how buildings connect with time and direction. Next I drew detailed plans of the yard. I discovered several illness 'hot spots' and knew if we could fix them Turlough would see a general improvement in his horses."
Theory into action
Thomas had several Feng Shui remedies in mind to help overcome the problem. The first
consisted of erecting a large three sided wooden structure in the middle of a pre-
"This is known as a Dao (pronounced Dow) sign and is a powerful Feng Shui symbol to help stabilize energy flows in the area and counteract negative energy from the mast," he says. He advised hanging wooden wind chimes from the Dao to help disrupt negative energy and break the pattern for mishaps he had detected in the area.
Another illness 'hot spot' in terms of energy flow, fell over the first three stables to the left of the main entrance. One these housed Chipolata, bright bay youngster who often frustrated Turlough by not reaching his full Potential when racing. “I always knew he had it in him to win, but time after time something would go wrong" says Turlough. Thomas suggested he hang six Chinese coins on a red ribbon in the window at the back of Chipolata's stable. These, said Thomas, created a remedy to help overcome illness and increase his chance of winning money!
The result
With the Feng Shui remedies in place it was a case of ‘wait and see' what the results would be. Turlough, a quietly spoken Irish man with an open mind and a good sense of humour, admits to some raised eyebrows and good nattered banter from owners!
Over the next few weeks the horses seemed soothed by the gentle sound of the wind chimes and the Donnelly’s waited to see if they'd recover their health. Thomas had warned them the blood results might deteriorate a little before improving: "This often happens when a Feng Shui remedy is put in place. It`s a sort of adjustment reaction," he explains. "but you should soon see a dramatic improvement." Months later Turlough shakes his head in amazement as he recalls: "That's exactly what happened!"
Today all of his horses have fully recovered from their viruses. "This would have happened at some point anyway," Turlough admits, "but the viruses and runs of bad luck seem to be staying away, which is amazing."
Chipolota surprised everyone by running an excellent race on his first outing, finishing
third in a good field and stable mate, Kintavi, an eight year-
Turlough, standing proudly by a super fit Kintavi, admits he doesn't understand how Feng Shui works but is just happy his luck has changed. "I was just so fed up I was willing to try anything provided it didn't hurt the horses, and this didn't even involve touching them!"
Thomas is pleased about his success but not surprised. "Everyone and everything is affected by energy flows. Feng Shui is not restricted to houses and offices. Stables can be affected and improving the Feng Shui always helps." 'Turlough Donnelly might just be encouraged to bet on that!
If there is anything you would like to know, please feel free to ask us.
This article was published in Horse Magazine August 1998