Before he made a name for himself as a breeding sire, Burnus proved himself during his four years at the eventing barn of the German Olympic Committee in Warendorf, Germany, where Dr. Reiner Klimke, then a member of the national three-day event team, became his rider.  Olympic double silver medallist, veterinarian Otto Rothe, judged him to be "one of the most promising upcoming stars.  He showed talent in all disciplines, and was reliable and courageous in all competitions." Klimke and Burnus won at the National Championship level  Their association came to an end due to an injury Burnus sustained, while Klimke went on to international success.

Against the odds, Burnus was approved by the Trakehner Association in 1956 as a Premium stallion.  Breeding director Dr. Fritz Schilke had to bend the rules to make it possible, as he was swayed by the performance record, overall quality and charisma of the horse.  The Trakehner Studbook recognizes, aside from Trakehners, only some exceptionally talented Thoroughbreds, Arabs and Anglo-Arabs that pass stringent tests.   Burnus, however, carried from his dam's side a small percentage of Hungarian Warmblood.  Schilke described Burnus in his approval report as a beautiful stallion who perfectly combined the good qualities of Arab and Thoroughbred. Schmidt-Salzmann donated Burnus to the Trakehner Association to help them rebuild the refugee breed after they lost their home province of East Prussia in World War II.  Burnus became one of the pillars of the breed, mating 420 mares until the time of his death at age 32 in 1980.   He produced three approved sons, Alarm, Markes Letzter, Habicht, and 40 broodmares.

Burnus was most famous for his sport horse offspring.  For five consecutive years Burnus was the number one producer of show hunters in Germany.  His offspring included Bariton, ridden by the Olympic gold medal-winning dressage rider Harry Boldt, and Kim, who with rider Karl Siemens-Fischer, were members of the German three-day event team at the World Championships in 1982.  Another of his offspring, Schwalberich, demonstrated the great attitude of this line by an outstanding round in the Hamburg Show Jumping Derby in Germany with rider Bernd Bagusat steering him with one hand, the other arm in a cast and sling, through what is reputedly the most demanding course in the world.

Burnus was honoured with the Medal of the German Agricultural Society and the gold medal of the German Equestrian Federation, in his latter years.  Cornelia Kempter