Justin Verboomen Conjures Magic and Brings Inspiration with 2025 CDIO Aachen Kur Victory

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

Belgian Justin Verboomen continued to conjure magic and spread hope and inspiration for developing dressage nations as he defied all the odds by claiming victory in the concluding 5* Kur to Music at the 2025 CDIO Aachen on Sunday noon 6 July 2025. 

The 37-year old Verboomen outclassed German legend Isabell Werth and a whole string of seasoned Olympians and athletes with harmonious dressage riding that paves the way for the future of our sport by reflecting many of the original principles of classical dressage.

After a second place in the Grand Prix, Justin and his 9-year old Hanoverian stallion Zonik Plus (by Zonik x Hohenstein) wrote history by winning the Grand Prix Special and went on to ride the wave of success in the freestyle. As 2025 Aachen Grand Champion Verboomen joined a unique club of foreign riders (16) able to break the stranglehold the Germans hold on their home show for almost a century.

From Anticlimax to Apex

The dressage stadium was buzzing with excitement after "small dressage nation" Belgium wrote history on Thursday by finishing second in the FEI Nations Cup and with Verboomen acing the Special on Saturday. Would the pair repeat that feat on Sunday in the freestyle knowing that Isabell Werth is the queen of the kur and always ups the ante on the last day?

A freestyle thriller was promised, but the morning started out with numbing, anti-climactic weather that dampened spirits a little. After four glorious days of summer weather (with Wednesday being brutally hot) we went straight into autumn with a dark, overcast sky, a temp drop of almost 20 ° centigrade, a chilling wind blowing through the stadium, and rain drizzling down.  The long pants, triple jackets and rain coats came out of the closet and it took until halfway through the freestyle for the stands to be fully packed, knowing that seats for the freestyle sell out a year in advance. People were not rushing through the rain to make it for the Kur it seemed, and the background was much darker coloured with the crowds wearing black and blue rain coats instead of bright coloured summer clothes. It generates different pictures. 

A Slow Start

Eighteen riders qualified for the Kur to Music via the GP Special and they were divided into three blocks with 6 riders each.

Dutch Geert-Jan Raateland kicked off the class at 9h15 in the morning aboard the 14-year old KWPN gelding Gladiator (by Totilas x Havidoff). He opened his test to Simply Red's Sunrise and copied Isabell Werth's find of playing Bonnie Tyler's "Turn Around" in the pirouettes.  Gladiator has been trained by Raateland to Grand Prix, then spent some time with Edward Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud, before returning to the rider, who is now making a break through this season as a Dutch Nations Cup rider. 

The next horse to enter the arena was another alumnus from the Gal/Minderhoud barn: Tatiana Skillman's Indigro (by Negro x Jazz), ridden by Brit Andrew Gould. The black is very talented in piaffe and passage but very much hand ridde and strong in the contact. More self carriage and lightness would open doors to another level.

Two Americans followed: Benjamin Ebeling on the 15-year old Hanoverian mare Bellena (by Belissimo M x Welser) who had a very hip, poppy freestyle featuring songs “Femininomenon” by Chappell Roan, “Rich Girl” by Gwen Stefani, “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado, and “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran and Beyonce. Cool. Kasey Perry-Glass followed with her 13-year old KWPN gelding Heartbeat WP (by Charmeur x Ferro) and rode to music softer, filmic music that regularly featuring a heartbeat. It did not have enough of a "story line" to really stick.

Portugal's experienced Maria Caetano came in next with the 13-year old Portuguese sport horse Hit Plus, a Luso-warmblood cross bred by Bretton Woods x Peralta Pinha from the same brood farm as Zonik Plus. She rode a Michael Jackson freestyle, but ended up at the bottom of the ranking after the judges noticed she had done a 2.5 pirouette which made her score drop. 

Dutch Marieke van der Putten was last to go before the break on her sensational mare Zantana (by Zonik x Sir Donnerhall). The 11-year old Oldenburg mare, bred by Paul Schockemöhle, is in her first year at Grand Prix and shows so much talent, but both in the Special and Kur she got too "sharp" and hectic in her legs. In Aachen the mare bit off more than she could chew, but watch out for her, she's the not so secret weapon of the Dutch now! 

The Second Block

The second block of riders featured three Danes, two Sweden, and a Portuguese.  I have to put a disclaimed here: I'm not often in love with freestyle music. I find that riders are not willing to invest enough money in well-composed and thought-out freestyles (made by real professionals and not just twenty-year olds behind a computer) even though they are competing in the highest echelon of the sport. So many freestyles are boring, repetitive, cookie cutter, and just not inspirational. Too often it's elevator music contributing nothing to the floorplan and the magic a horse-and-rider combination can generate..

Nadja Aaboe Sloth, who was Denmark's Olympic team reserve in Paris, rode her 12-year old Danish gelding Favour Gersdorf (by Foundation x Leandro) to electronic dance music tunes. The straight tempi changes were a highlight. Andreas Helgstrand had his 11-year old KWPN stallion Jovian (by Apache x Tango) on the best form of the week. The huge horse has so much ground covering in the extensions but collecting is a challenge. Riding to fun Ed Sheeran music (based on his new song Azizam), Jovian for the first time showed 10 meters of some really good passage, as well as one piaffe where he was actually trying to sit on the hindlegs. Great!  Rikke Dupont and her 10-year old Danish bred Grand Galiano (by Grand Galaxy Win x Don Schufro) brought some funk to the arena with Patrick Hernandez' "Born To Be Alive" and some David Bowie music.

Maria von Essen borrowed Cathrine Dufour's Les Miserables freestyle, made for Bohemian, for her freestyle ride on Invoice (by Jazz x Ferro), while Patrik Kittel left his James Bond kur home and rode Touchdown (by Quaterback x Sack) to a medley of pop songs, including Men Without Hats' "The Safety Dance," which was a key tune in two freestyles of American Olympian Steffen Peters. He was the first to crack the 80% barrier and ended up fifth with 80.460%.

Joao Moreira and his 10-year old Drosa Furst Kennedy (by Fursten-Look x Don Kennedy) opted for Iberian themed music.  They achieved a personal best of 77.610% for 9th place. 

The Final Six

After a short ring maintenance break the final six were ready to perform in the freestyle in front of a fully packed stadium. The morning had started with drizzle, then it was dry, but the last riders rode in rain. 

Belgian Larissa Pauluis entered first as part of the final six and benefit from high the entire team was on. With her 15-year old KWPN gelding Flambeau (by Ampere x Zeoliet) she premiered new music based on Annie Lennox' "Sweet Dreams" and U2's "In the Name of Love". It was good. Her bay gelding is a very elastic, bouncy mover with springy passage and piaffes that are rhythmical with lots of lift in the legs. In the canter work the movements were ridden a bit hastily and lacked some polish, but their score of 79.675% reflected the majority of quality work that was delivered. They finished 6th in the end. 

Usually last to go, Isabell Werth had to go next, meaning four other riders would follow her and have the opportunity to better her score. Werth rode the 11-year old Danish bred Wendy (by Sezuan x Soprano) in their best test of the week with a passage more on the hindquarters and the piaffe being rhythmical and more weight taken behind. Each stride was so controlled, the canter half passes were very well ridden, the pirouettes were better, even though they still could have more bending round the rider's inside leg. The weak points were the two trot extensions that are stiff, with the horse leaning on the rider's hands and not achieving overstep (score 7.0 - 8.0 !). The walk was well ridden, the two tempi changes uphill, and the one tempi changes (their stumbling block of the week, ) - all fifteen of them - worked out today which prompted Isabell to scream out loud. In the final piaffe-passage the mare got a bit high in the poll and needed some careful fingerplay to keep her on the bit, but Werth was enjoying herself and had a bit smile on her face. It must be said that no music today neared the perfection of Wendy's tailored freestyle, arranged by the late Michael Erdmann. It is based on Chris Norman & Suzi Quatro's "Stumblin In" and Barry Manilow's "Mandy" and tells a true story, taking the spectator on an emotional roller coaster and empathising with Werth and Wendy who performed it. Judges Peter Storr, Raphaël Saleh, Katrina Wüst, Christof Umbach, and Maarten Van der Heijden rewarded the ride with 88.440% (individual marks ranging from 87.300% (Storr) to 90.775% (Wüst). 

The next to go was Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus. They have been tweaking their music, composed by Stefan Buitenbos, after the CDIO Lier in May and rode a new canter part for the first time today. The music was etherial and mysterious in the first past, well fitting the trot and pi-pa tour, which was soft-footed, effortless, with a clockwork rhythm. The trot extensions were ground-covering with the horse rising in front. The extended walk had overstep and was clear in the rhythm but not the most generous in overtrack. They went from a piaffe pirouette into a canter pirouette and rode a high degree of technical difficulty in canter with half passes, pirouettes, tempi changes on curved lines. Not a single mistake was made in canter, but Zonik Plus loses elasticity in the back and has to labour through the ones, even though they are ground covering and uphill. The canter music, unfortunately, did not lead to a crescendo. While Verboomen's ride was a joy to watch, the music did not convince in really supporting and adding a story to this test. Also the final part with a piaffe pirouette and sudden end halt at the far end of the arena felt more like "mission abort" than working towards an emotional climax, which is what you want as a spectator. The heartstrings need to be played and this was not the case with the music, it did with their beautiful dressage riding. Ideally we want both: the full freestyle package. 

After his final salute, Verboomen left the arena to standing ovations and cheering. When the score of 89.400% flashed on the board, another piece of history for Belgium was written in Aachen. This score was not bested and crowned Justin the Aachen Grand Champion, Lindt-prize winner, and it launched him as an individual GOLD medal candidate at the Europeans in Crozet. 

The Final Three

Two Germans and a Brit were yet to come, but it was not really expected for them to best that result. 

German Olympian Frederic Wandres created some anticipation as he had announced on social media that he was to premier new music in Aachen. Arranged by Brit Tom Hunt, his freestyle became an "Ode to Love" with The Beatles' "All You Need is Love", Foreigner's "I want to know what love is" and Love Affair's "Everlasting Love." Aboard the 15-year old Russian owned Oldenburg gelding Bluetooth (by Bordeaux x Riccione) Wandres rode strong trot extensions, and good trot half passes. The passage on the right lead was stronger than on the left lead. The extended walk was ground covering, the collected dodgy in the rhythm. The super straight one tempi changes on the centerline were a highlight. The judges rewarded the test with an 84.490% which ranked them third in the end. 

German Katharina Hemmer and the 13-year old Oldenburg Denoix PCH (by Destano x Pik Noir) dropped on the leader board to a 9th place with 77.610%. The chestnut had showed a brilliant Grand Prix Special on Saturday, but could not reproduce that form on Sunday. They rode to the theme song of Black Beauty amongst other film music and the true extended trots were outstanding, as well as the one tempi changes. Denoix did not recover from a big spook at the end of ride at A and the lid blew off the cooker in the final piaffe-passage. It's a pity that the audience did not refrain from clapping as it visibly disturbed the horse.

British Becky Moody was third in the Grand Prix Special and expected to clinch that spot again, but she moved into fourth place with 83.380%. She also rides to Tony Hobden arranged music, featuring a big medley of (too) many Beatles' songs, including... "All You Need is Love." Jagerbomb has been on fire the entire week and twice did not halt immobile, yet scored between 4 and 8 (!!) for "the entrance and halts at the beginning and the end of the test." There was also a mistake in the two tempi changes and the extended walk was barely shown with no relaxation (6 - 7 !!!!). But Moody and Jagerbomb also showed great parts : superb passage, trot half passes, and two tempi changes going into ones. If the horse relaxes more, he'll be a consistent top five player with Aachen absentees Glamourdale and Mount St. John Freestyle thrown in the mix. 

Partners in Harmony

In the prize giving ceremony, Zonik Plus and Verboomen were celebrated by the Aachen crowds. The black stallion stood like a statue, fully relaxed, seemingly aware of the great feat he has accomplished.

At the press conference following the freestyle, Justin Verboomen was his usual shy shelf, not fond of public speaking, whereas conference routiniers Werth and Wandres had to wait a while as Verboomen was being interviewed for national Belgian television. After the win on Saturday, RTBF and VRT sent a camera crew over to Aachen.

"My horse was amazing," Justin muttered. "Today I had a super connection with him." When asked why he chose for light, discreet melodies as music, he replied “I wanted to make it smooth and harmonious so the people could feel the emotions… I want them to feel the sensitive part of Zonik and I. I want them to get goosebumps."   

Werth was pleased with her horse. “Yesterday Wendy was on fire, today she was more relaxed. I am happy with the improvements that have occurred from day to day. The canter was much better and can improve a little more. The transitions were great; the walk was immediately there. There was the dynamic between energy and relaxation. It was a good finish." When asked if she was a little disappointed to finish second, she replied “I'm not unhappy. This is the sport. You have two completely different horses. It's a question of taste or one little mistake (who wins)."

Frederic Wandres explained that “It is the last day and I am back on the podium. We showed a good development. My horse was good all week. It was a tough week with the weather conditions, it was so hot at the beginning and now rain, which is difficult for the horses." Frederic was also happy with his new freestyle music. "I had no time to try out but I was prepared, not like Riesenbeck." Answering to his choice in songs, Frederic said, "in this time love is what we need. You want to give the feeling that you have (in the saddle) to the spectators."

CHIO Aachen Head of Sport, Birgit Rosenberg, was thrilled with the dressage part of her show.  “The big winner today is the sport. We received a lot of criticism in the run-up. You gave the answer today. We saw super pictures, super horses. Thank you to you all, your teams your grooms they all work so hard behind the scenes. I think today was a foretaste of what we will see next year at the World Championships."

Eurodressage took photos of all competitors in Aachen. If you are interested to buy photo prints or digital files for social media, email us.

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