Max Hauri

Max Hauri was a horse dealer and an internationally renowned rider. In 1960, he was Swiss Champion and he competed more than 50 times for the Swiss Nations Cup team. He participated in show jumping at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in both jumping and eventing at the 1972 München Olympics. Hauri’s best result was the fifth place with the Swiss Nations Cup team in 1972 and, individually, 10th place in 1964. In the alternate jumping event for the nations that boycotted the 1980 Moskva Olympics, staged at Rotterdam, he was again a member of the Swiss Nations Cup team, placing fifth. Hauri also competed at the 1979 European Championship and the 1986 World Championship.

His sister Adelheid “Heidi” Robbiani won a bronze medal in individual jumping at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Max Hauri developed his father’s cattle and horse trading business to become one of the leading competition and trading stables with top horses and an excellent reputation in the equestrian world. As an example, he provided horses for top Brazilian riders, father Nelson and son Rodrigo Pessoa.

After he was seriously injured in a riding accident, Hauri handed the company over to his sons, who were also internationally experienced horsemen. In the Swiss army, Max Hauri was captain of a cavalry squadron. When the Swiss parliament opted for a disbandment of the cavalry, in 1972 he initiated and commanded a nostalgia squadron, which still performs in civilian and military events and maintains a museum in the Aarau armory. Hauri died as a result of a fall in a swimming pool.