2004 CDIO Aachen

The Pressure is On, Ulla Salzgeber

July 21, 2004

It took an awful long time for the judges to decide on Ulla Salzgeber's Kur to Music score after she finished her ride. When the mark of 82.775% appeared minutes later on the score board, everyone was astonished. Salzgeber lost from Anky van Grunsven on Salinero, an unprecedented defeat. Till then Salzgeber was considered the Olympic gold medal favorite but that hope vaporized instantly when Salzgeber ranked second in the Aachen Grand Prix Championship.

It was one lousy spook and one tiny mistake that made her "lose" the victory in the freestyle. Rusty looked sharp, uphill, and very engaged in his Carmina Burana kur. Though many people are upset about Salzgeber's stubbornness not to change her music, her freestyle is still the only one that can give me goose bumps.

What went wrong? Rusty made one step backwards after the first halt and salute at X (Salinero didn't stand still at all during his final halt and salute at X). His piaffe sometimes dangerously lingers on losing impulsion, but on the other hand, his tempi changes and pirouettes are just from another planet. What perfection! The verdict, however, was very hard. One mistake, one lost win.

"A mistake is a mistake," Salzgeber said soberly after her ride. "Rusty spooked at a microphone. That can happen." One could not not notice Salzgeber's extreme disappointment with her loss and during a television interview she seemed extremely annoyed not to have been given the time to reflect upon the matter first.

Knowing well that Ulla was facing Anky, "The Queen of the Kur," on Sunday in the kur, Salzgeber did nothing special to prepare herself for her ride. "I drank coffee this morning, helped Heike a bit and got on my horse," Ulla remarked.

The battle at the Olympic Games is going to be extremely cutting edge. "Rusty is fit and ready. We're moving on," Salzgeber stated.

Text and Photos copyrighted: Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed