Belgium’s Justin Verboomen made history at the 2025 European Dressage Championships in Crozet, clinching individual gold in the grand prix special with Zonik Plus – the nation’s first-ever championship medal.
Their spectacular performance earned a personal best of 82.37%, leaving the crowd on its feet and an emotional Justin almost lost for words.
It was always set to be a three-way battle with Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (Mount St John Freestyle) and Isabell Werth (Wendy De Fontaine), and in the end, it was the tiniest of mistakes that proved decisive.
Drawn first of the leading trio, Justin delivered a phenomenal test. His ride was littered with nines for the trotwork, piaffe and passage, and he received four 10s for his double-marked pirouettes.
The judges were split – Germany’s Katrina Würst at C was more than 4% below the average with 78.94%, while Peter Storr at M awarded 85.64%, the highest of all. But with a fault-free performance, there was no doubt the Belgian combination were deserving winners.
“To win here with him is just incredible – it took me a few minutes to realise what we’d done,” said Justin. Softly spoken and almost shy of the limelight, he prefers to let his riding do the talking – but he’ll have to get used to the attention, because there’s surely much more to come.
He added: “I bought my horse when he was only two and a half years old, so we’ve done everything together. From the start, he showed such quality and such a good mentality. ”
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Isabell digs deep
Isabell, chasing yet another European title, followed Justin but had uncharacteristic errors in the collected walk and both sets of changes.
For much of the test, she was trending behind Germany’s rising star Katharina Hemmer (Denoix PCH), who finished fourth on a personal best 78.68%, and at one point was also behind Britain’s Becky Moody (Jagerbomb), fifth on 77.8%.
But Isabell once again showed why she is the most decorated rider in the sport. She brought Wendy home with a flawless final centre line, scoring a run of eights and nines, and her general impression mark averaged just under nine – enough to secure bronze on 79.22%.
“I’m really happy with Wendy today,” Isabell said afterwards. “It was a tough, close competition, which makes it exciting for all of us.
“Of course, I wanted to win, but I lost a little of the quick energy in the changes. We started the season late because of a small injury, so she’s not yet at her very best. With two mistakes, it was too much – but I’m realistic, and I know we’re on the right path.”
Cathrine pushes Justin to the wire
The final word went to Cathrine and Freestyle. Their opening half was exceptional, with their trademark piaffe-passage picking up 10s. But a mistake in the one-time changes proved costly, leaving them less than 0.6% behind Justin to claim the silver medal.
“I know it was with a glimpse of gold at some point,” Cathrine admitted. “But I didn’t expect it today – honestly, I could just as well have ended up with bronze or even fourth or fifth.
“That’s why I’m so happy. I had everything I wanted in there – the power, the balance, the piaffe and passage just how I like them. The mistake in the one-times came out of nowhere, because she had been perfect on the centre line before. But it’s horses, and sometimes a tiny blip happens. Overall, I had a super, super feeling.”
Cathrine was among the first to congratulate Justin after his historic win, embracing him in the mixed zone as they waited for the prizegiving.
“It’s great that the sport is bringing up new combinations like Justin and Zonik Plus, and that really motivates me,” she said. “I’m also so happy for him. He’s writing history today, and that’s amazing for the sport. It’s top sport – anyone could have won, and he went and got it.”
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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).
