Stuttgart – For the second time after 2003 when she triumphed on Wall Street, Ulla Salzgeber (Germany) won the FEI Grand Prix freestyle for the Prize of NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSGRUPPE at the 27th International STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS Horse Show on Saturday afternoon. “I’m so happy and I really enjoyed riding today,” said a delighted two-time Olympic Champion, “it was a faultless performance”. The 53-year-old put it simply: “The crowd liked it, and the judges liked it.” Riding the 12-year-old chestnut gelding Herzruf’s Erbe, she scored 82.575 per cent. “The atmosphere in the arena was magnificent. I wanted to do something with a bit of pep today so I decided on-the-spur-of the moment for the James Bond freestyle. I love riding it and it was simply wonderful and witty.”
"In front of 8000 spectators in the Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle, which was full to capacity, the Italian amassed a highly creditable 80.175 per cent on the ten-year-old Eremo el Castegno, a son of Raw Diamond, to place second. Last year’s winner Isabelle Werth (Germany) came third on the nine-year-old Don Johnson and was “very happy”. The queen of dressage: “I’ve got a fantastic horse that mastered a difficult freestyle. He exceeded my expectations.”
Hans-Jürgen Schmidt, the CEO of the NÜNRBERGER VERSICHERUNGSGRUPPE, stressed the importance of equestrian sport and dressage in particular: “We are, like no other sport, ambassadors for Germany and, on the international stage, we are even the most successful.”
