It wasn’t a personal best, but Belgium’s Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus kept a narrow margin over Becky Moody and Jagerbomb from Great Britain to take the dressage freestyle at the Equita Lyon show in France on Friday. The class is a qualifier for the FEI Dressage World Cup Final, which will be held in Ft. Worth next April.
Justin didn’t match the score from his European Championships individual gold medal ride, earning 87.075 percent highlighted by an artistic score of 92 percent, with his 9-year-old Rheinlander stallion flowing effortlessly to gentle background music. The picture was marred only by mistakes in the tempi changes (he was scored as low as a 5 for the changes every stride), but the rest was buoyed by individual marks of 10 for choreography, music and a textbook canter pirouette right.
Freestyle winner Justin Verboomen on Zonik Plus at Lyon, France, and runner-up Becky Moody on Jagerbomb.
Modest and soft-spoken as always, Justin said the feeling was amazing in his Thursday Grand Prix, where he set a personal best for that test.
“Today he was maybe a little bit tired and I did some mistakes, but he was still really good” said Justin after his freestyle.
“Step by step, I think it will improve and improve and improve,” Justin suggested, noting he wasn’t “really used to” an atmosphere like the packed house he encountered in Lyon.
As he continues to develop his horse, who he purchased in Portugal when the colt was two-and-a-half, Justin said, “The only thing I want is really to improve the suppleness and his confidence in the ring.”
Becky’s ride on her 11-year-old homebred gelding was presented to a medley of Beatles tunes, most appropriate considering her country of origin. The judges thought so too; Becky and her Dutchbred mount got three marks of 10 for music and its interpretation.
“I was smiling all the time,” Becky said about her test.
“The crowd here was amazing. I’m so lucky to ride Jagerbomb, I always enjoy riding him. He is very consistent, has an incredible temperament and is very trainable. He makes my life easy, but you can always have a good or bad day. In the Grand Prix, I was a bit frustrated with myself, not with Bomb. Today everything felt super.”
Third place went to another Belgian rider, Larissa Pauluis, with Flambeau, on 79.560 percent.
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