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.
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.
The series covers classical dressage techniques from Training level to Grand Prix and teaches how to create a harmonious partnership between horse and rider.
[3][4][5] In 2017, the USDF archived the instructional video series A Matter of Trust, as well as the book Ask Walter, preserving for future generations of equestrian sports to benefit from, thanks to the United States Dressage Federation (USDF), Mark Neihart and Heidi Zorn of Dancing Deer, LLC., producers of the Matter of Trust Series, with Walter Zettl.
These techniques were handed down to Zettl from Colonel Aust, who himself built upon the legacy of Julius Walzer who served as the trainer of the gold medal-winning German Olympic Dressage Team in the 1928 Games of the IXth Olympiad in Amsterdam.
He rules out any approach that uses forceful methods and keeps reminding his readers that the only way to successful riding lies in a relationship that is built upon trust between horse and rider.