Verboomen Makes 2026 CDIO Lier Final Prep Show Before 2026 World Championships

Dressage

Belgium

Reigning European dressage champion Justin Verboomen has announced that this weekend's CDIO Lier will be Zonik Plus' final preparatory show before the 2026 World Championships in Aachen in August.

Verboomen will not be competing his top ride at the Belgian Championships next week, nor at the FEI Nations Cup in Hagen.

“Zonik Plus feels really good," he told the press team at the CDIO Lier. “I’m very happy with how Zonik Plus is feeling at the moment. In Fontainebleau, I was really pleased with the test. Since then, I’ve actually hardly done any exercises at home. I’ve mainly focused on the small details: relaxation in the canter, the connection. But ultimately, those aren’t details. That’s actually the foundation.”

A lot has changed over the past two years. In a short space of time, the pair have become one of the absolute highlights of international dressage. Yet there is no hint of haste or boastfulness in Verboomen’s tone. On the contrary. It is precisely calmness, attention to detail and feel that are central to his preparations for the World Championships in Aachen this summer.

It's All About the Feeling

For Verboomen, it’s all about the feeling he has built up at home during training. He wants to take that same feeling intto the arena in Lier this weekend.

Ultimately, the aim is to get the same feeling in the arena as at home. A canter with a relaxed back and, once again, that harmony in the passage and piaffe as in Fontainebleau”, where the pair scored a personal best of 91.855%.

The fact that he gets to represent Belgium again this weekend in the Nations Cup on home soil means a great deal to him. “It’s always special to ride for your country. We have a really great team. And it’s lovely to hear the applause and support from the home crowd.”

Prep Show

Last year at the CDIO Lier where the pair won it all

After CDIO Lier his 10-year old Hanoverian licensed stallion Zonik Plus (by Zonik x Hohensteon) will take a break from competition ahead of the World Championships. Verboomen has deliberately opted for a rest period.

“After Lier, I’ll be staying at home with Zonik for the whole of June. He’ll get a bit of a holiday too. I won’t be competing with him again before the World Championships in Aachen. At the end of July, we’ve got another training session with the Belgian team, and I think that’s enough. I couldn’t really find a competition where I thought: I really want to ride there. I’d rather focus on the details at home.”

According to Verboomen, Zonik Plus simply doesn’t need that extra competition routine. What does prove essential for the stallion, however, is peace and quiet around the competitions. “What he really needs is to arrive at the show on time so he can settle in and acclimatise. That really helps him to relax," he said.

In Transport

Even during transport Verboomen has looked for ways to make the stallion more comfortable.

“He’s recently started travelling loose in the lorry," said the Brussels based Justin. "He was always a bit restless in the two-horse van. A friend then recommented: ‘Try letting him stand loose.’ So now I slide the partitions to the side and since then he’s travelled really calmly.”

Verboomen is constantly looking at what Zonik Plus needs to feel good. “I don’t constantly worry about what might happen, not even when he’s out in the field. If he prefers this, then that’s what we do. Something could always happen. Ultimately, he’s the love of my life and I’ll do anything for him.”

No Belgian Championships

Verboomen will not be riding at next week’s Belgian Championships, also held in Lier. Initially, the plan was to enter his latest star, Fellini du Soleil, but he changed his mind.

“I had planned to present Fellini, but we’re not quite ready for that yet. I want to do everything as well as possible and I’m taking the time to do so. That’s why I won’t be competing next week, but I’ll of course be there to support the Belgian Championships," he said.

Verboomen recently competed Fellini Hors Concours at their first national show as a pair at the CDN Dentergem on 17 May. A score was not officially published.