Former German Olympian, team veterinarian and dressage horse breeder Dr. Wilhelm "Willy" Büsing passed away on 25 June 2023. He had turned 102 in March.
At the time of his death, Büsing was one of the oldest living Olympians, the longest lived German Olympic medalist, and the oldest surviving male medalist from the 1952 Olympics.
Olympic Medal Winning Eventer
In the 1950s, Wilhem Büsing was one of the most successful eventing riders in Germany. After World War II he was first successful in eventing with horses he had bred and trained himself. Then in 1952 the German Olympic Committee for Equestrianism (DOKR) allocated the Hanoverian Hubertus to him and Büsing was able to win the qualifier for the Olympic Games right away. In Helsinki he celebrated the greatest success of his career. He won bronze in the individual classification and team silver. He was celebrated on his return in Oldenburg in his hometown Jade.
Two years later, in 1954, Büsing and Hubertus collected another silver medal with the German team at the European Championships in Basel. In 1959, the year of the first German Eventing Championships in Luhmühlen and three days after his marriage Dr. Büsing ended his active career.
Team Veterinarian
His work as a veterinarian became increasingly important. As early as 1956 he accompanied the German eventing riders to the Olympic Games in Stockholm as team veterinarian, head of the team, trainer and supervisor and later traveled to Rome (1960) and Tokyo (1964) as well as to the 1966 European Championships in Moscow.
Breeder
Dr. Büsing was also very successful as a horse breeder.
After giving up his veterinary practice, he devoted himself to horse breeding together with his wife Dorle and their two daughters Sabine and Heike.
The foundation mare in his breeding programme was the Oldenburg Champion Mare Toga M (by Manstein x Volkorn xx x Manolete xx). He also bred Don Davidoff (by Don Gregory), the Oldenburg Licensing Champion who became the two-time Bundeschampion and World Champion of young dressage horses under Dr. Ulf Möller.
Dressage was also the discipline that Dr. Büsing favoured the most, despite his enthusiasm for cross-country and jumping. He has been victorious at the CHIO Aachen in eventing and dressage.
Related Links
Where are They Now? Don Davidoff
1964 Tokyo Olympics: Grete Kemper, Groom of Reiner Klimke's Dux, Remembers Tokyo