Feldenkrais Method® in Wellington!
WHERE: Year-round DTM Feldenkrais Method® Practice at Poinciana Farm, Loxahatchee, FL. ~ By appointment only ~
As a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Method Practitioner®, Dave is a specialist in personalized biomechanics, pain-management, neuro-motor movement training and "re-wiring", always aiming to work with each person's nervous system, gently working with what their body feels comfortable with.
READ more about the Feldenkrais Method
In equestrian sports, we know it takes a village, Dave's expertise on your team will help ensure your success!
The neuroscience behind the Feldenkrais Method® is 'magic' on its own merit, but combine that with Dave's equestrian expertise... a winning formula! That's why several Olympic medalists have, and continue to collaborate with Dave.
With the Feldenkrais Method, we reboot and rewire,"To make the impossible possible, the possible easy and the easy beautiful".
"The aim is a person who is organized to move with minimum effort and maximum efficiency, not through muscular effort, but through increased consciousness of how movement works." - Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, 1904-1984
Tension, Pain, Asymmetry
Say goodbye to sore backs, hips, chronic asymmetry or even settling for stiffness from "normal" aging.
Ride and Live Pain Free!
For every Rider, including you!
Become more supple, develop your 'feel', improve your coordination, timing and dexterity plus achieve the riding breakthroughs you’ve been training for.
From novice to Olympic Medalist. Dave has assisted several Olympians, including pictured rider Kristina Bröring-Sprehe, who received a perfect 10 on her seat at the Olympics!
Improve Your Partnership
Improving your own body's movement potential and smoothness in movement, breath, application of aids as well as mental ease will keep your horse happy and sound.
Create an even better partnership.
Anxiety and Show-Nerves
Infuse your riding with super-charged optimism and replace doubt and anxiety with excitement.
And through your own personal experience with unmounted Feldenkrais, you will see and genuinely believe in your limitless abilities to learn, improve and perform!
Here are some questions for you:
- Even occasionally, do stiff hips, a somewhat aching back, tense neck or slightly unruly hands frustrate your riding experience?
- Would you like it to be easier to sit big movers or more athletically follow a jump or buck?
- Does the mirror (occasionally) reflect a rider even slightly struggling with posture and balance?
- Perhaps you see video and find yourself leaning, holding, stiff or crooked when you THINK you are doing much better? This as opposed to what you KNOW you can do: ie, the effective, supple and graceful classical image you hold in your heart?
- Do you find yourself even slightly worried that your best riding years might be behind you?
- Do you experience slight tension from performance anxiety, show nerves or even fear?
- In all these years, have you been missing out on a key element, a "secret" to "feel" and timing of aids? Do you truly understand how to ride with your position in the most supple, effective and EASIEST way?
Perhaps some of these issues feel familiar, but we are here to help!
"To make the impossible possible, to make the possible easy, and the easy beautiful."
A New and Improved You
Discover an amazing new feeling of riding with a truly swinging back, complete with optimized hip joints, a revitalized spine and no extra muscular effort, only what is required.. to beautifully guide your horse's every stride, and keep your horse happy and sound.
“The sensation of effort is due to other actions being enacted besides the one intended.” Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
Imagine if you could go back in time, before compensation patterns, injuries, trauma, and poor muscle memory from inappropriate tack or the wrong discipline…
Short of going back in time with lunge lessons on schoolmasters, this is the best thing you can do for your riding!
This movement-based neurological training is NOT exercise, and it is EASY and FUN for all fitness levels.
Don't worry, this is not theoretical biomechanics; it is Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® (voice guided) and hands-on Functional Integration®. "We're not just working on the body, we're working on the brain-body connection. We're helping people move more efficiently, more easily, with less effort."
Sessions allow you to make revisions to your nervous system's subconscious patterns and movements on auto-pilot. If you haven't tried a Feldenkrais Method® private session, you owe it to yourself and your horse to give it a go.
Shannon Lee Dueck
"Feeling little improvements in the horse’s body and my body makes for confident progress - just quiet work not demanding. Feeling both of our spines and balance. Thank you Dave Thind for the help!!! "
Request an appointment
Meet Dave: "It is an absolute honor to be able to assist my fellow equestrians and their horses!"
Dave is a lifelong equestrian, originally in the Hunter/Jumper/Equitation rings but made the switch to dressage more than two decades ago.
He is a German Equestrian Federation Certified F.N. "Trainer A" (Level III of 3, in dressage, jumping and eventing! He holds a level III International Trainer's Passport) and all is shaped by his obsession for biomechanics and two-decade+ passion for the Feldenkrais Method - including a 4-year long education to become a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Method® Practitioner.
Within the horse world, Dave is well known as an authority in equine sports related biomechanics; in riders, horses and the combined synergy. He himself knows firsthand the struggles riders face and has helped countless riders of all levels, across the globe.
He himself suffered from major injuries to frustrating stiffness - he's experienced it all and emerged stronger, thanks to his application of the Feldenkrais Method®.
Dave has faced major career ending injuries including a fractured neck, major back, S.I., sciatica issues, leg length discrepancy, and anatomical anomalies like a hip joint that's irregular and doesn't fit in the socket - yet, he is PAIN FREE because of the Feldenkrais Method.
In terms of trainers, Dave has been lucky enough to train with some of the best, including long-term study with: Martin Plewa (Former National Team Trainer, Germany), Rainer Jackel (Westphalian Riding School), Johan Zagers (Germany, Brazilian Olympic Team Trainer), Hartwig Burfeind (3x German National Professional Champion), Arthur-Kottas (Spanish Riding School), Jacquie Brooks (2X Olympian, Canada), Juan Manuel Vidal (Spain), Manuel Ponce Vasquez (Spain), Christoph Hess (Germany) and recently had his horse is full training with Monica Theodorescu (German Olympian and National Team Trainer) at the DOKR, Warendorf for over a year.
Prior to flying his horse Shakar to FL, he also spent 6-weeks in full training in the Netherlands with Rien Van Der Schaft.
He has also received training from many other top trainers, to whom he is grateful for having shared their knowledge.
Dave himself spent countless hours in the traditional role of a trainer educating horses and riders for over two decades.
"Everyone is unique in their patterns, but humans all share common movement blueprints so regardless of where the starting point, doing mat work movement lessons based on evolution and childhood development that also incorporate the science of biomechanics are extremely effective." These movement lessons are done out of the saddle, from the comfort of home. "Improvements are made not only to biomechanics, pain- relief and excelling in performance, but riders experience more creativity, spontaneous reactions and adaptability to change, as well as more confidence. Seeing so many smiling and amazed riders in person, I knew I had to bring this to the whole equestrian community! Hence the DTM online courses for riders to enjoy from home."
Dave believes that opposed to attempting to make improvement while in the saddle, with DTM unmounted, we can stop our habits, disable being on auto-pilot, learn to "feel" more, learn better flow and timing, have options and reboot/recalibrate. Therefore faster, and more permanent, "rewiring" and results.
With now 30 years of experience in the horse world, Dave understands your challenges and dreams like no one else.
His passion? Sharing this transformative method with riders across the globe. For two decades, Dave has continued to be excited and amazed with the Feldenkrais Method and how riders can experience nothing short of miraculous, effective and quick improvements.
Whether you're battling discomfort, aiming for the next level of performance, or you just want to work on your seat through a replacement to longe lessons, he's dedicated to helping you achieve your riding goals and transform your riding experience.
Expect Lasting Results
Not exercise. Not Yoga.
Not Pilates. Discover DTM
Expect results for YOU, Dave will meet with you, listen, observe and assess. Let Dave help you with your goals!
Develop natural, upright posture effortlessly — exuding confidence in and out of the saddle
Enjoy longer riding sessions without any discomfort or fatigue — Say goodbye to back and hip pain
Develop your ability to communicate effectively with your horse
Transform your performance & enjoy the freedom to ride without restrictions
Improve your seat to a whole new level! Dave is there to support you with follow-ups, however he encourages self-reliance with at home homework and self-care.
What Sets Us Apart?
Not Massage.
Not exercise.
Not PT.
NO adjustments.
Not Osteopathy.
Not Yoga.
Not Pilates.
Not Tai Chi.
Specifically for riders, DTM Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® and Feldenkrais Functional Integration— a cutting-edge brain-rewiring method that enhances the connection between the brain and body through effective movement training, resulting in more efficient, effortless saddle ride.
Sounds exciting, doesn't it?
With Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement®, I’ll help you understand your skeletal alignment, showing how to work your body rather than against it. You’ll recognize your own natural patterns of movement that’ll reduce any discomfort with every ride.
You’ll be able to fine-tune your posture, boost your suppleness, and break down the barriers without letting belief systems about permanent habits or even age hold the reins — allowing you to continue your freedom to ride and unlock your timeless equestrian elegance.
Whether you're struggling with posture alignment, have pain/stiffness, or struggling with injuries, our program is designed for dedicated riders — just like you.
Get Started
With Dave's help, you’ll be able to…
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Improve your ability to follow and influence your horse's movement eliminating stiffness, gripping and pain.
- Sit deeply in the saddle, achieving the type of seat progress (and more!) normally only attained through countless expert lunge lessons.
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Be in control of your self direct learning. Through feeling your own body though specialized movement lessons, learning and clarifying biomechanics in a way that can only come from personal experience
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At any given moment, the skill to discern and naturally create the most easy and flowing way to complete a task or function.
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Distribute loads proportionally throughout your entire skeletal system for balanced and natural movement.
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Cultivate flexibility and resiliency of the joints to sustain your body weight while in motion.
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Boost your ability to withstand stressful situations, easily finding natural postures that strengthening your body's natural armor, breathing and mental ease.
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Restore functional springiness to your knees, ankles and hips to support and carry you with every stride.
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Harness the power of the Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement®, maximizing your riding capability.
PHOTO: Charlotte Jorst and Nintendo - "Working with Dave has catapulted my riding in a direction that I am very happy with - and I am much more supple in my body, both when riding and in my daily life."
Maximum Effectiveness with Minimum Aids
"What if you could move your body exactly as intended by nature—with economy and ease as well as with mental awareness and clarity?
That’s what the Feldenkrais Method is all about. Feldenkrais said that the purpose of his method was to 'make the impossible possible, the hard easy and the easy elegant.'
The Dave Thind Method (DTM) is all about that same Feldenkrais journey, but Dave, an international-level dressage rider, invites the participant to imagine applying those micro awarenesses to riding a horse. The ideal equestrian result is maximum effectiveness with minimal aids. Harmony grows from the economy and ease of movement, awareness and clarity that is learned while lying, sitting or standing quietly on a mat in class. The Feldenkreis journey with Dave is enlightening and delightful. Try it. Your horse will thank you."
- Beth Baumert
International Trainer, and Author of When Two Spines Align
Dr. Hollis Day, (M.D).,
"You have to experience it to believe it. I have first-hand, witnessed and experienced powerful, undeniable and almost unbelievable improvement in both posture and motor function using the Dave Thind Method,” attested Dr. Hollis Day. Dr. Day, who is head of Geriatrics at Boston Medical, is a lifelong hunter/jumper competitor that now trains and competes in dressage. “Dave’s highly advanced knowledge of anatomy, biomechanics and how humans learn is something every rider can benefit from," she added.
Dr. Hilary Clayton (DVM)
“Dave’s classes are interesting, informative and FUN. Each class brings a new level of self-awareness in the saddle and provides us with tools to ride better – what’s not to like about that!,” proclaimed Dr. Hillary Clayton upon reflecting with her own personal experience. She also said “ I love the DTM focus on the pelvis which research shows is the key to riding success. His lessons will help all of us to reach our full potential in the saddle."
"This method makes total sense. It is based on a solid foundation in German classical riding and uses innovate ideas from the field of neuro-muscular programming, more specifically the Feldenkrais Method. Traditionally, longe lessons and school masters played a large role in teaching a rider about feeling and the correct seat. These days, people don't easily have access to longe lessons or true schoolmasters. This is what makes Dave’s work so great!"
- Cindy Ishoy, Olympic Silver Medalist, World Cup Rider and Canadian Hall of Fame Athlete.
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Dr. Lauren Dembkoski Adelizi - Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine and Grand Prix dressage rider
"I often recommend this work to patients in my chiropractic practice as a tool to understand where your body is in space and to make cognitive corrections to change how your body moves in space.
Dave is a pioneer in marrying a technique that teaches body awareness to riders.
He is on the cusp of a huge movement that is going to sweep the dressage world, as we better understand how our physical body can be changed through cognitive methods. He has furthered my understanding of the changes that I can make in my body to be a better rider. I strongly recomend that you investigate the Dave Thind Method."
Stephanie Roy Osteopath D.O.
"With Dave, you will experience an incredible feeling of liberation when acute problems that other trainers have either ignored or have simply been unable to fix are dealt with once and for all.
Even problems that you have been trying to fix for years are quickly remedied, with minimal effort! And like magic, your horse who you thought was naturally heavy on the forehand, crooked, laterally stiff or even slightly off, suddenly becomes light, supple, straight and happy.
Cause and effect; Dave has simply become an expert. You will marvel at how big problems have small and easy solutions."
Got Questions?
Is this an exercise program or treatment?
How Does the Feldenkrais Method® Work?
Is this program only for advanced riders?
How will this course help me improve my riding skills?
I'm not suffering from any major pain or stiffness, is this for me?
Christoph Hess on Horse Welfare Using DTM
German Master Christoph Hess, who is retired from his long-held position as Head of Education and Training at the German Equestrian Federation F.N., says of training horses,
“The most important part of the training of a horse is the training of the rider's position. No rider is able to train a horse properly when they have not trained their seat. The rider has to learn to find the right position in the saddle; balanced and relaxed - and to be honest this is very difficult.”
“Dave is an expert on schooling riders. He is brilliant in teaching the correct rider’s position in a friendly and positive way and his students have good positions in the saddle - he himself also! I suggest that many of us should use the opportunity to train with Dave. Dave‘s training will make you happy and especially your horses happy. A smooth sitting rider who is swinging into the horses’ movements is a horseman/horsewoman. This is important for the welfare of the horse. The better the rider’s position the happier the horse - and Dave helps his clients achieve good positions,” continued Hess who is a current F.N. Educational Ambassador.
