Justin Verboomen delivered on the promise he showed when he wowed the crowds at Aachen last month, as he took Belgium’s first European Championships dressage medal, earning gold in the Grand Prix Special on Friday in Crozet, France.
The rider was brought to tears as he left the arena after his flowing test marked at 82.371 percent seemed to put him on the brink of a win, even with such stars as Germany’s Isabell Werth (Wendy de Fontaine) and Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (Mount St John Freestyle) still to come.
A moment that captures the intensity of Justin Verboomen.
“I cannot believe what happened in this arena,” he said, after confessing he was speechless in the drama of the moment.
“I just couldn’t believe it. He is only 9 years old,” a stunned Justin said of the black Hanoverian stallion by Zonik NOP that he found in Portugal as a 2-year-old.
“He has so much to learn, I have so much to learn,” he continued, noting “I had a lot of pressure before I put on myself.” It was, he added, “difficult to handle and manage.” Of his horse, he commented, “he did an incredible job.”
Justin Verboomen was moved to tears after his wonderful ride on Zonik Plus.
Justin got four 10s for his pirouettes, one for piaffe and one for passage, and so many 9s that I stopped counting them, except for one 9.5 for general impression.
Justin and Zonik Plus in action. (FEI Photo)
Cathrine, who was first in the team competition that ended Thursday, finished second on 81.687 percent after a mistake in the one tempis when her mare “knocked her one leg” and was marked at 3.7.
“Other than that, I had an amazing ride in there.”
Cathrine Laudrop-Dufour of Denmark and Mount St. John Freestyle, runner-up in the Special. (FEI Photo)
Isabell won her twenty-eighth European championships medal by taking bronze with a score of 79.027 percent. In her case also, the one-tempis were responsible for her failure to break 80 percent, with several marks of 5 there.
“I realized how difficult it would be,” Isabell said of the Special.
Isabell Werth and Wendy de Fontaine, third in the Special (FEI Photo)
“I know I’m not on this serious level i need to be to be so safe and confident to go to the canter work,” she added.
The changes are “still on the way to get it really easy and confident. Sometimes, a little mistake when she’s not really with me. That we have to sort out. The rest was really super.”
In her first senior Championships, German rider Katharina Hemmer finished fourth with Denoix PCH, owned by Nancy Gooding of the the U.S. and German trainer Hubertus Schmidt. What a shame that lovely Denoixl isn’t competing for the USA.
But Katharina did a wonderful job with a fluid test, in which the piaffe and passage each were well-balanced, front and hind. The entrancing performance that earned 78.678 percent had German coach Monica Theodorescu wiping tears from her eyes.
Katharina’s European Championships debut was a special experience for her.
“It’s not so often you can really enjoy your ride, active in the test, because you are so focused. But this time I felt Denoix was so focused and he wanted to do everything right and I could really enjoy it during the ride,” Katharina explained.
“He tried his best. I felt so proud during the ride that he’s giving his all for me. I was very, very delighted.”
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