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DAVE'S STORY

When People ask what I do, the quick answer is I help riders to become better. Helping better someone does not mean coming in as an expert to change them, but rather becoming as an asset in their current program. Through online courses or in person by  listen carefully to goals of a rider and their trainer. 

How do I do this, my 4-year education to become a Feldenkrais® Practitioner is about movement and biomechanics, but mostly about how humans learn. Therefore, my expertise is in how we humans learn. My other formal education and practical experience is as a trainer. Although I no longer work as a "trainer", I have a German Trainer A license (3rd of 3 levels, and hold an FEI International Trainer Level III.

I’ve spent my entire adult life,  the last 25 years, completely professionally engrossed in the horse world.  Riding, training, teaching, competing, breeding, rehabbing, professional saddle and bit fitting, and of course, the study of biomechanics in horse and rider.

 Each endeavor and level has been (and remains) an incredible learning experience. Through these amazing experiences, I have been able to both compete and teach to the Grand Prix level.  I do however  enjoy working with horses and riders of all levels.

 

Whether you're struggling with seat problems, have pain/ stiffness or have had injuries, I can relate.

Free of pain and stiffness and already successful at an elite level, you might want to attain that next level or polish, I have helped multiple Olympic athletes do just that.

I suppose my passion is that I love help! And my work is my passion.  I love horses, helping people and help bring about major shifts in capacity and confidence levels.  I want people to feel safe and comfortable when they learn, with me as their ally. 

I can relate, I have struggled with my seat, suffered from pain, MAJOR injuries and stiffness. Despite the fact that my left femur is officially 1" longer than the right, and I have a diagnosis of CAM type him impingement (ball and socket do not fit together, normally requiring surgery), I do not have pain. Thank you Feldenkrais!!!

After career ending injuries,  I found the Feldenkrais Method®.  First as a means to recover, but I quickly realized that this method would help me become  the rider I wanted to be (I was not "a natural").  

Not long after recovering and finding so much new body awareness and feeling, I went to Germany to complete my Trainer education and was often falsely often labeled as a a naturally talented or highly trained/experienced dressage rider. Me?!  No, it was the Feldenkrais:-)

On a daily basis, I use my Feldenkrais skills to continue to maintain and improve my own riding.  Helping riders all over the world sharing this knowledge is such a privilege - I gain as much personal satisfaction by leveraging the same strategies I’ve used to go from struggling to riding comfortably with ease, in a "natural" way.

IT WASN'T ALWAYS EASY

 

From an early age, I knew I wanted to be a professional rider, trainer and instructor. I worked really hard developing my skill and put myself through college and eventually finished my German Trainer education with top honors. Finally, since Feldenkrais is what got me back in the saddle, and developed my riding and feel in a way nothing else possibly could, I completed a 4-year education to become a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner. My career thus far has been amazing,  but  helping riders of all levels and ages unleash their true capacity as a rider is the real dream come true.

A UNIQUE SKILL SET TO HElP YOU

 

Born in Canada and trained in Germany, Dave Thind has a passion for teaching and helping. 

Imagine the ability to obtain kind, positive and uplifting help from a biomechanics expert, an expert in human learning.

Not many other body experts out there (therapists etc) also have his track record as a competitor or trainer.  With almost a perfect score for teaching up to advanced levels, as tested and officially recorded by the German Equestrian Federation. The score? 1.5, with 1 being perfect.

 

 Thind has himself competed at the Grand Prix level in dressage and jumping. He is a noted equestrian biomechanics authority, with several published articles and appearances as an expert guest or lecturer to his credit.  He received his German 'Trainer A' license in 2007 with a nearly perfect score awarded to him from the German National Federation. He holds an International Trainer Passport Level III and is an Authorized Teacher of Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement.

By special request from the German Equestrian Federation, Dave is completing a book for them. His young talented hopeful, Shakar, remans in full training with German Olympic trainer Monica Theodorescu.   

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ONLINE PROGRAMS

With A Good Seat Moves & other programs, you have access to the help you need. 

 

View classes

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1:1 COACHING

If you would like to book a private Feldenkrais or riding lesson, or just want to talk about your personal issues, Dave is available to help. 

 

Book a session

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LIVE CLASSES ON ZOOM

Join like minded riders around the world, for a 6-week series of classes that you can attend, live, once a week. 

 

Live classes on zoom

Christoph Hess

Charlotte Jorst

Shannon Dueck

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“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."

Christoph Hess

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“His work 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."

Charlotte Jorst 

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“I have just loved working with Dave Thind. The subtle adjustments of the riders body really help.”

Shannon Lee Dueck