Lier CDIO 4* Grand Prix: Justin Verboomen & Zonik Plus prepar World Championships
- 23 mai
- 2 min de lecture
After Wellington and Fontainebleau, the FEI Nations Cup circuit stops this week in Lier, Belgium; a Flemish leg organized for the second consecutive year. Won by Belgium in 2025, Jeroen van Lent's riders faced off this time against 30 other pairs from Sweden, Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the Netherlands; 7 teams therefore started the team competition.
The overwhelming favorites, Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus, unsurprisingly lived up to expectations. Very active and showing plenty of spring in passage, the stallion seemed perhaps a little less responsive to his rider's aids today than he sometimes showed the last few months. Zonik Plus slightly anticipate the transition from collected walk to passage, but he also lost some energy in his final piaffe; clearly a test during which these two worked hard! Despite these few areas for improvement, the Belgians were rewarded with a score of 80.391%, demonstrating once again a high-quality light contact.
Larissa Pauluis had every reason to celebrate at the end of her test: having delivered a flawless performance that seemed meticulously ridden stride by stride, she nevertheless had to contend with Flambeau, who was clearly quite fresh despite the decidedly summery heat. The gelding by Ampere showed some tension coming out of his first piaffe, a canter departure that could have been more clean, and a flying change at the right time; a performance scored 73.522%.
Third place went to Marieke van der Putten & Kuvasz for the Netherlands. Very much looking like his sire Glamourdale's type, the 11-year-old stallion slightly tilted his neck in his right trot half-pass. Very active and with plenty of spring in the diagonal gaits, the KWPN nevertheless lost quality in his canter in his second pirouette and the passage after his final piaffe. Their score of 72.978% : a new personal best.
The team competition was once again won by Belgium, ahead of Great Britain and Germany.
Full results HERE
picture : (archives) Lier/Digishots
