Udo Lange Passed Away

Dressage

Germany

German dressage rider, trainer and riding master Udo Lange has passed away in Medingen, Germany, on 26 May 2026. He was 83 years old.

Born on April 13, 1943, in Dresden during World War II, Lange experienced a difficult childhood. In 1956 a teenage Udo and his mother fled the Soviet occupation zone in East Germany finding refuge in Düren near Cologne in western Germany. It was there, in the stable of horseman Otto Nagel, that he first discovered riding and horsemanship.

Lange began formal equestrian training in the late 1950s at the Kordes riding school in Hilden before continuing at the renowned Westphalian Riding and Driving School under legendary trainer Paul Stecken. Stecken became one of the major influences on Lange’s riding philosophy and technical foundation.

Although best known as a dressage rider, Lange originally competed successfully in multiple disciplines. He became the Baden-Württemberg eventing champion in 1966 and also rode show jumping classes up to S level. His transition into elite dressage accelerated in the late 1960s, and in 1971 he rode his first Grand Prix at age 28.

Lange coaching Bernadette Brune
at the 2014 CDI Hagen

In the early 1970s, Lange worked in the stable of the parents of Olympic dressage rider Ulla Salzgeber before establishing himself independently in 1975. Lange secured the Baden-Württemberg Dressage Championship title a total of seven times, the first time in 1977.

Over the following decades he built an international reputation as both a competitor and a trainer. He won the German Professional Dressage Rider Championship five times. Lange became especially famous as a coach and mentor. Among the notable riders he trained were French European Champion Margit Otto-Crépin, German trainer Ton de Ridder, Hungarian Olympian Robert Acs, and Canadian Olympian Christilot Boylen-Hansen.

Lange and Boylen were long-time professional and personal partners and operated the Gammertshof dressage center in Röttingen, Germany, from 1990 to 2014. Udo assisted Christilot in the development of all her Grand Prix horses, including Lucky Lemon. Udo's last CDI starts were in the mid 2010s with Decia de Pauw's Giacometti (by Brentano II x Weltmeyer). He continued to compete horses nationally until 2013 when he last rode down the centerline at a home show in Medingen with Higgins (by Hohenstein x De Niro).

He also developed a collaboration with saddle brand Kieffer who made an "Udo Lange" model named after him.

Internationally, Lange served as trainer of the Brazilian dressage team beginning in 2004, helping expand high-level dressage development outside Europe. Despite his progressed age Udo continued to teach internationally.

Boylen-Hansen once described his strength as “his feel for horses” and emphasized that “he forces nothing.” His training philosophy focuses on correct basics, patience, rider balance, and developing horses systematically toward collection and self-carriage.

Lange lived an "active retirement" and continued to teach and train. He was awarded the prestigious title “Riding Master” in 1996 for his contributions to equestrian sport and rider education.

He spent his last years living at Burkhard Wahler's Klosterhof in Medingen near Bad Bevensen, Germany.