Ulla Salzgeber is one of the world’s most successful dressage trainers and riders. She competed in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics, winning two team gold medals, one individual silver and one individual bronze. She also won numerous medals at the World Equestrian Games, Dressage World Cup and European Dressage Championships. After the retirement of her Olympic horse, Rusty, after the 2004 Games, Ulla found it difficult to find a new Grand Prix horse.

In 2005, she took on the post as the dressage training adviser to the Australian dressage 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 early 2010, moving to new stables in Blonhofen, Bavaria, which she said would allow her to accept more students. In 2013, after returning Herzruf’s Erbe to competition, Ulla was again named to the German equestrian squad’s A-team.