Walter Zettl

Who is Walter Zettl?

Walter A. Zettl is a German dressage rider and Olympic-level dressage horse trainer. He was born in 1929 in Alt-Rohlau, Bohemia, which is now Stará Role in the Karlovy Vary region of the Czech Republic.

Zettl began his riding career in 1945, as a student of Herbert Aust. In 1950, at the age of 21, Zettl became the youngest person ever to be awarded the German Federation Gold Riding Medal, for success in upper level dressage and jumping for a single competitive season. In 1952, he was selected to compete for Germany's dressage team in the Helsinki Summer Olympics, but was ruled to be a professional rider and therefore ineligible. In 1953 Walter Zettl was chosen to succeed Otto Loerke and Willi Schultheis as trainer at Gestuet Vornholz.

In 1955, he earned his formal Reitlehrer certification as a riding coach, and began training young champions while continuing to compete himself. He won several awards in the Bavarian Dressage Championships and the Salzburg International Jumping Grand Prix on a horse he rode for the first time.

In 1981, he moved to Canada, where he served as Managing Director of the Canadian I.E.S.S. owned by Hans and Eva Maria Pracht.