Belgium’s Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus laid on the wow factor to win gold in the European Dressage Championships freestyle medals at Jiva Hill Stables in France. Under cloudless skies, at the foot of the Jura Mountains, this pair danced their way to the top of the podium with 89.96%.
Justin, 38, is a man who lets his performance do the talking and he was almost speechless in trying to describe the enormity of what he had achieved with the horse he found as a two-year-old.
“I can’t believe it at all!” he said. “This second victory is really a surprise for me. I’m so proud of my horse – he’s so young.”
As in the grand prix special, it was a three-way fight for the medals, between Justin, silver medallist Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Isabell Werth in bronze, but the placings remained unaltered. Zonik is dressage’s new king.
Justin and the nine-year-old had already made history on their championship debut by winning Belgium’s first gold in the special. But as Cathrine and Isabell had both put plus-88% scores on the board before his turn, this young stallion would need to conjure something extra special. A personal best in a rapidly soaring career was required – and that’s exactly what Zonik produced.
Breathtaking though the test was, it was not flawless, as Zonik broke into canter during his trot half-pass, but the rest was spellbinding.
“I made a big mistake – of course it was my fault,” Justin said. “But I could feel that test by test he is becoming more mature, able to listen to all my very small aids, always attentive to me – that’s his greatest quality.”
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
European Dressage Championships freestyle: silver and bronze medals
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour had Isabell’s target of 88.05% to hit when she went in, third from the end. She nailed an extremely technical floorplan, climaxing with an impressive walk into canter pirouette, to piaffe and then halt to score 89.82%.
“The choreography is very special, I hand-picked things from old freestyles and felt emotional riding it,” said Cathrine. “It’s really technical, but Freestyle is a horse who can take it.”
There were so many tremendous highlights from this harmonious partnership – their smoothness and frame throughout were exemplary and the way they made such a difficult sequence of exercises look so easy.
In common with several others, the pair made a mistake in the two-time tempi changes, which they were able to repeat but perhaps it made the tiny impact that made the difference in such a tight tussle for gold.
“I thought she was amazing again, she’s been great all week performing three great tests,” said Cathrine, who watched Justin’s test from the mixed zone alongside her trainer Kyra Kyrklund. “I needed that last bit of luck today as it was so damn close!
“So it comes with a little bit of disappointment but this is what the sport is all about, and it has been amazing sport all week at Jiva Hill.”
Bronze for Isabell Werth
Isabell Werth said after the special that she would go for broke in Wendy De Fontaine’s freestyle, and she conjured a massive performance, certainly their most harmonious of the week.
Her piaffe pirouettes were exquisite, but the whole test was immaculate, balanced and powerful. Although Wendy’s previous tests had looked a little short of her Paris brilliance, the pair looked in perfect harmony in this freestyle, Isabell riding for every single mark. Every movement looked more fluent and expressive, and the scores soared accordingly.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
