IRISH breeders, riders and spectators mourned the loss of a great horseman and supporter of the Irish horse with the death of Swiss Olympian Max Hauri last Sunday.

The former Swiss champion was an international sport horse expert, producer of Olympic medal winners but above all, he was a thoughtful, experienced, and qualified advocate of the Irish horse who will be sadly missed.

On his first Olympic outing in Tokyo, he finished 10th individually with Millview, just one fault behind Italy’s multiple Olympic medal winner Piero d’Inzeo.

In Munich eight years later, he rode Haiti on the Swiss jumping team that finished fifth, and was a member of the sixth-placed eventing team with Red Baron. Swiss jumping champion from 1960, Hauri competed on more than 50 FEI Nations Cup teams for Switzerland.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Max travelled the length and breadth of Ireland and bought directly from the breeders. The late Seamus Hughes and he made an impressive team in identifying young horse talent, breeding and conformation. A lunge over a pole, walk in a straight line and trot in a circle, and the cheque book would be out with a glass of whiskey to seal the deal.

Visiting six to eight times a year, Max would buy up to 20 horses per visit, and was a regular in the veterinary paddock at the RDS, in Millstreet with the Duggan family and in Balmoral, Northern Ireland.

He was also the instigator of bringing Cavalier Royale to Ireland to provide a new cross of blood to the country’s breeding. Max identified the need for additional blood and scope in Ireland and as Cavalier Royale came to the end of his jumping career, he was brought to Ireland by Seamus Hughes to stand in Williamstown with his brother John.

Cavalier Royale, a Holsteiner stallion who had a huge influence on Irish sport horse breeding, was a great cross with Irish mares and he produced some top jumpers such as Royal Charmer, Amos, McGuiness, King Cavalier, Captian Christy etc, becoming a world leading eventing and show jumping sire.

Hauri also was responsible for bringing Clover Echo and his grandson Beach Ball to the Irish breeding circuit, having bought him as a young horse from Tommy Wade and sold him back to Brendan and Ann-Marie McSorley to stand in Tyrone.

The list of international horses that passed through his hands is endless and include Vivaldi, the famous Grand Prix show jumper of Nelson Pessoa, who also started Rodrigo Pessoa at international level. Vivaldi was broken by John Micklem and competed by Andy Hughes on behalf of his owners Seamus Hughes and Nelson Pessoa.

Max Hauri’s sister competed in show jumping at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where she won a bronze medal in the individual contest, and placed fifth with the Swiss team, on the Irish-bred chesnut mare Jessica V[1], by Candelabra, bought in Co Clare.

The Pessoas had a very close relationship with Hauri Horses. Rodrigo said about his first ride bought from Seamus Hughes (bred by his aunt Mary): “Special Envoy was a remarkable horse, the first horse I mounted in the main Grands Prix, he launched me in the great international circuit. I did my first World Championship with him, my first Olympics at age of 19. I was lucky to have had many quality horses, but should I have to choose one, it would have to be him, for launching me in the great competitions.”

Max Hauri’s competition yard was also a centre of learning for Irish riders including Jessica Kürten, Frances Connors, Marion Hughes, Brendan Ryan to name just a few who learned their trade in Seon, just a few miles from Zurich.

The riding, work ethic and approach made Max’s ability with horses so special. Without Max Hauri, many of these great careers would not have developed.

In recent years, Max had serious ill health issues but was back riding out daily at the age of 74. Sincere sympathy to his sons Marcus and Thomas and daughter Carol and their children on the loss of a great family man, horseman and friend.