At 10 years old Ulla Salzgeber started vaulting but very quickly decided to concentrate on dressage riding. In 1977, she became a member of the German Junior-Young Rider 'C-Kader' Team. She participated in her first Young Riders European Championships in Leverkusen (Germany) the same year. In 1976, she was Rhineland Champion in dressage, a year later she was European Champion with the junior-team in Leverkusen and was fourth in the individual competition. Her first two horses she trained herself to Grand Prix level, 'Lutz' and 'Glenfiddich', and they helped her to an impressive number of placings and victories including Grand Prix Special. In 1979, she was presented with the German Riding Insignia in gold for her successes in the dressage ring.
In 1994, Ulla discovered the Latvian gelding 'Rusty', a horse she did not initially like very much, a Lettland gelding, whose breeding is, however, three quarters Hannoverian. As a trainer in Bavaria, she was looking for a horse for one of her students. She met with Alexander Moksel from Buchloe, for whom Ludger Beerbaum was riding, and who had trade connections to the former Soviet Union. He asked her if she would like to train several of his horses. Rusty came to the Salzgeber stable. "Rusty came from Lettland and was far too thin and did not have much muscle so I asked myself: Why do you want him?" But when she saw him trot, she was absolutely fascinated, and riding him also proved fairly ‘uncomplicated‘. Two weeks later, they won their first Prix St. Georges. She and her husband Sebastian, who was a former Schwäbischer Champion in jumping and dressage, decided to buy Rusty. Ulla now had a new goal in view: the OLYMPICS ...
With Rusty she won four Olympic medals, two World Championships as well as three World Cup competitions. After finally retiring her beloved "Rusty" and the surprising death of "Wall Street" there was a short timeout in Ulla's riding career, her other horses were still too young for international competitions. But during 2007 she returned to competitive dressage riding with "Wakana" and "Herzi".
From the beginning, Ulla Salzgeber’s training and riding was based on the 'Classical way of dressage training'. She owes her solid basic dressage training to the world's best trainers such as Fritz Tempelmann, Klaus Balkenhol, Harry Boldt, Willi Schultheis and especially General Albert Stecken. Ulla is thoroughly committed to teach and train the way she was taught herself and has a small training yard just outside Bad Worishofen. She receives great reward and satisfaction when she can see the results of her efforts in the successes of riders and horses she has trained. She has been teaching in her native language German, as well as in English, for more than 20 years and has coached the Australian Olympic squad. Despite her own busy career in the saddle, she always finds time for her students. Many of them are professionals themselves, who will pass on Ulla's thoughts and methods to their own students, some of whom have travelled a long way to train with Ulla for a few days, weeks or even months. She handles each horse differently and each rider exactly the same. Every rider is consistently schooled to improve and strengthen her position and concentration. Mistakes of the horse, are always attributed to faults in the rider's position or mental outlook. She stresses that the rider must have the feeling, image and idea in his or her mind of what he or she wants to accomplish or she cannot communicate it to the horse effectively.
Ulla has now shifted some of her focus from horses to wellness. Ulla and her husband Sebastian recently opened the spa and wellness hotel, Salzgeber in her home town of Bad Worishofen, where she offers several diets, and wellness and Kneipp treatments to her clients. She will continue training riders and giving clinics which has always been her passion, and additionally her students can now stay in her hotel and take advantage of the various treatments on offer.