Elli Pospischil is a Class 4 Coach & Mentor with Linda Parelli’s Happy Horse Happy Life Program and former 4-Star Senior Instructor, Horse Development Specialist and Pat Parelli’s Protégée. She is based out of Colorado and more than happy to travel all over the world to support you on your horsemanship journey.

She can’t wait to share with you a more behavior and psychology based approach to horsemanship that Happy Horse Happy Life stands for along with the depth of knowledge that Pat Parelli has shared with her during the 7 years she spent as his Protégée to help you take your horsemanship to the next level!

Teaching is Elli’s absolute passion—whether it’s horsemanship, skiing or snowboarding— she loves seeing her student’s progress by leaps and bounds everywhere in the world!

With Elli’s background in English Riding and Show Jumping, combined with the purpose driven horsemanship that Elli represents, as well as her experience in Western Performance, she can bridge the gap between disciplines and help you become the horseman your horse needs you to be—no matter your discipline!

Elli’s fascination with horses started at a very young age. After asking and asking, finally at the age of 9, her mom agreed for her to take riding lessons. This is how her “normal” riding career started: Elli took the first couple of lessons on the lunge, enjoyed vaulting, and soon thereafter got to go on the first trail ride. On the back of the riding school’s horses, she quickly learned which corner was going to be the dead end with her ending up in the sand. And she got run off with on a regular basis.

After these experiences, Elli encountered Icelandic horses and fell in love with them. On these reliable horses, she learned that trail riding can indeed be fun!

When she was older—during her wild days—she traveled the world as a professional snowboarder. Elli competed in the ISF Halfpipe World Cup in Europe, Japan and USA, as well as the FIS Boardercross Series. She liked the idea of this new snow sport—snowboarding—being different with a touch of the rebel.

Gliding through fresh powder snow, racing down the slopes and flying through the halfpipe is what made her feel alive and free like a bird! Elli loves being outdoors, in nature, enjoying the freedom of life. Eventually, after lots of practice in both summer and wintertime she was able to make the transition from being a recreational snowboarder to becoming a professional and getting her first sponsorship deals.

Elli says she will never forget watching the weather channel and having a hard time knowing where exactly on the map she currently was due to her extensive traveling. It was a great experience traveling the world and meeting the snowboarders’ community at the next tour stop or summer training camp somewhere on the planet.

After being on the road for several years, Elli realized it was time to take a more serious approach to life. She studied Tourism Management & Public Relations—choosing a college that was in the mountains so she didn’t have to give up her sport!

It was during her studies at the college for Tourism Management & Public Relations that Elli had the opportunity to work as an intern with the Swiss Parelli Office & European distributorship. They didn’t pay much, but instead they gave her a “strong-minded” & “big-boned” Swiss Mountain Horse and a Savvy System Home Study Program and told her to have a go. The real intention of her boss, a 4 Star Parelli Professional, was to test just how well the Savvy System worked.

Rest assured—no one got hurt in the process! With her red Savvy String she was immediately hooked and began dreaming of becoming a Parelli instructor.

Slowly but surely, snowboarding became less important and horses, as well as Parelli, took its place. By following the Parelli Home Study Program step by step; trusting the process; quitting her “normal” job; Elli not only achieved Level 4 and became a Parelli Professional, but also started her career as a show-jumper.

Elli spent a lot of time as a working student with 5 Star Master Parelli Professional Wally Gegenschatz. As her Savvy grew exponentially, Elli learned a lot about young horses, colt starting, foundation training, foal handling, horses with special needs (aka problem horses) and performance training. With her partner “Cyndorella,” (a Swiss Warmblood mare) she trained for show jumping and quickly she achieved great success at competitions in Switzerland.

When Elli first got into horses, her dream was not about riding bareback and bridleless along the beach but about jumping the highest stadium jumps at the fastest speed, with her name at the top of the Show Jumping World Ranking. Little did she know then, that with a little bit of ambition (ok, that’s the easy part), principle, patience and sequence she would soon be able to make the first steps into that direction.

As a Licensed Parelli Professional, Elli taught in Europe before committing to a long-term study program with Pat in 2009. From 2010 until 2017 Elli studied with Pat & Linda Parelli, and as a Protégée in Pat Parelli’s Mastery Program at the Parelli University in Colorado and Florida.

Pat turned this Swiss Miss into a cowgirl and her latest passion of Cutting, Cow Working and showcasing what the Parelli Program can do for you in Parelli Spotlights. In 2014, Elli qualified for the World Championships in Cutting and finished 6th in the World in her division. Coming from an English riding background, and then competing in Western disciplines makes Elli a well-rounded horsewoman.

Elli loves nothing more than sharing her wealth of knowledge with students, and was an instrumental part of the Faculty at the Parelli Campus in Colorado and Florida. In addition, Elli mentored students in the Mastery Program—setting them up for success during their study time with Pat Parelli himself.

In 2020, Elli joined Linda Parelli’s Happy Horse Happy Life Program as a Class 4 Coach & Mentor.

Elli is very excited for this opportunity to continue her never-ending self-improvement as a horsewoman and to share Linda’s concepts about horse development with you.

Elli is looking forward to meeting you! Here’s to a happy horse life!