ABOUT US

I’m Chantal Thenberg, founder of Strides of Change – Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) and Coaching, based in the Redlands, Queensland. While my horses and I work locally, I’m grateful that my programs now reach people across the globe.
 

At the heart of my work is a passion for helping people at turning points in life—those moments when everything feels uncertain, overwhelming, or ripe for change. Whether through the presence of horses or through coaching conversations online, my focus is always the same: to guide people back to themselves. I believe the most powerful answers live within each of us. My role is to ask the deeper questions, hold space, and help uncover the wisdom already waiting inside.
 

My Path with Horses

My journey with EAL began back in 2009, when I started writing about retraining traumatised horses and starting young horses under saddle. Again and again, I noticed how their healing mirrored my own—and how our stories intertwined. As a teenager navigating my own rocky path, the horses I worked with became teachers, mirrors, and companions through the hardest times.

In the years that followed, I trained extensively across Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, gaining accreditation in the EAGALA model of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. Alongside formal training, I competed at elite equestrian level, reaching FEI 3* Eventing with my heart horse Jack—who, in the end, revealed himself to be the greatest therapy horse I could have hoped for.
 

Study and Growth

I’ve studied widely—Counselling, Psychology, Life Coaching, NLP, Mental Health & AOD (alcohold & other drugs), Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and trauma-informed psychotherapy. Personal development became a lifeline in my early twenties, leading me to immerse myself in programs such as Tony Robbins seminars, The Journey by Brandon Bays, and many other experiences that cracked open the patterns holding me back.
 

Books, trainings, and teachers filled my world, and they still do. I’m endlessly curious. But what matters most to me now is living what I’ve learned—fully engaging with life, embracing both the beauty and the shadows, and honouring the lessons within both.

Why I Do This Work

Strides of Change is a blend of all these experiences—my strengths, my studies, my story, and the gifts of the horses. I’ve seen how needed this work is, and how powerful it can feel to finally realise: “It wasn’t just me.”
 

It’s my hope that through my sessions, my reflections, and the presence of the horses, people will find connection, relief and the courage to step forward in their own lives with greater clarity and strength, creating their own ripple effect through their world.