Ulla Salzgeber

Ulla Salzgeber

Personal information
Nationality	German
Born	(1958-08-05) 5 August 1958 (age 65) Oberhausen, West Germany
Website	www.ulla-salzgeber.de
Sport
Country	Germany
Sport	Equestrian
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	2000, 2004
Medal record Equestrian Representing  Germany Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Team dressage 2004 Athens Team dressage 2004 Athens Individual dressage 2000 Sydney Individual dressage World Championships 1998 Rome Team dressage 2002 Jerez Team dressage 1998 Rome Individual dressage 2002 Jerez Individual dressage European Championships 1997 Verden Team dressage 1999 Arnhem Team dressage 2001 Verden Team dressage 2001 Verden Individual dressage 2003 Hickstead Team dressage 2003 Hickstead Individual dressage 1999 Arnhem Individual dressage World Cup 2001 Aarhus Individual dressage 2002 Den Bosch Individual dressage 2011 Leipzig Individual dressage

Ulla Salzgeber (born 5 August 1958 in

In 2005, she took time from competition to act as the dressage training adviser to the Australian national equestrian team, but resigned from that position in late 2006. In 2008, she began riding Herzruf's Erbe at major events, but the horse has been plagued by injuries that have required him to miss many competitions. Salzgeber announced a change in her training base in July 2016, moving to new stables in

Born 5 August 1958 in Oberhausen as Ulla Helbing,^[1] Salzgeber began riding at age 10, competing in the sport of vaulting. In 1977, at age 19, she was the Young Riders European Championships. She attended college, graduating from law school before building a training stable in Bad Wörishofen, Germany, that focuses on dressage. Salzgeber is married to Sebastian Salzgeber, and has one daughter, Kim.^[2]

Career

Salzgeber rode the same horse to all of her Olympic, World Equestrian Games and European Championship medals. Rusty 47, nicknamed Rusty, was a

In mid-2005, Salzgeber's then-current Grand Prix mount, Wall Street, was euthanized following an episode of colic. This, combined with the recent retirement of Rusty, left her with no Grand Prix-level horses. Wall Street, while a relatively successful dressage horse, had suffered health problems and had never been able to compete with Rusty as Salzgeber's top horse.^[6] In 2008, Salzgeber again began competing at the Grand Prix level on Herzruf's Erbe, who would develop into one of her top international horses. In that year, the pair won the Otto Lorke Prize, given each year to the best German Grand Prix horse under 10 years old. During 2008, Salzgeber and Herzruf's Erbe had won 10 Grand Prix competitions.^[7] In 2009, the pair were expected to compete at the European Dressage Championships, but were not chosen for the German team after Herzruf's Erbe sustained an injury at a competition in July. The immediate diagnosis was a severely pulled tendon, although a later diagnosis was that the horse had strained a suspensory muscle, expected to heal in about three months. By early 2010, the horse was again able to be ridden, but was still not in top condition.^[8][9]

In June 2011, Salzgeber announced that she would be selling one of her top-level horses, Wakana, to a student, leaving Herzruf's Erbe as her only horse prepared to compete at the international level.^[10] Later that month, Salzgeber removed herself from consideration for competition at the 2011 CHIO Aachen and European Dressage Championships. She announced that she had decided to take a break from competition and focus more on training and her personal life.^[11] In 2012, she announced that she would not be seeking a spot on the German team for the 2012 Summer Olympics, saying that her training duties had not given her time to properly prepare Herzruf's Erbe. She had ridden the horse at competitions during the 2011-2012 winter, and stated that she planned to compete at additional competitions during the winter of 2012-2013.^[12] However, in late 2012, the horse was put into a one-year rest period to help him recover from the injuries that had troubled him throughout his career. In October 2013, Salzgeber brought Herzruf's Erbe back into competition, winning a national show in Germany.^[13] The pair was successful at subsequent competitions, and in December 2013, it was announced that they had been returned to the German equestrian squad's A-team.^[14]

Coaching and training

In 2005, Salzgeber was named as the new dressage training adviser to the Australian national equestrian team. In the role, Salzgeber held training camps, approved team members' training programs and helped choose team members for international competitions.

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External links

• Ulla Salzgeber at
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