Zonik Plus

The duo took the Dressage world by storm: debuting in late November 2024, Verboomen and Zonik Plus won the Grand Prix at the CDI-W in Malines, Belgium, in their first-ever appearance on the World Cup circuit. This was quickly followed by wins in both Grand Prix and Freestyle CDI4* in March in Leir, Belgium, and third places in both Grand Prix and Freestyle at the Dutch Masters CDI-W in The Netherlands.

Barely nine months after their debut on the international stage, without (having fought for years for a) name, without a well-known trainer, without money or a rich sponsor, Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus ranked inside the top five of the FEI Dressage World Rankings and in July 2025 Verboomen won both Grand Prix Special and Freestyle at the CDI5* event at the prestigious CDIO Aachen.

Verboomen and Zonik Plus form an atypical duo in the sport of dressage as Verboomen is not just the rider of the horse but also the owner of the horse. Also unique and peculiar is that Zonik competes in the Grand Prix without horseshoes. He doesn’t seem to need them either: in the freestyle, the black horse shines with his lightness of foot. It was no surprise that Zonik Plus started drawing comparisons from many in the world of dressage with the legendary dressage horse Totilas.

In August 2025, Verboomen crowned his stellar debut season at the highest level by becoming a European Champion for the first time winning the gold in both the Grand Prix Special and Freestyle at the 2025 FEI European Dressage Championships in Crozet, France, with Zonik Plus. Verboomen was the first male rider since 2017 on a senior individual championship podium at the 2017 FEI European Championships and the first male rider to win an individual gold at such a championship since Edward Gal on Totilas won at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games.

After the double win at the 2025 FEW European Dressage Championships, Verboomen and Zonik Plus, not a year after his debut on the highest stage of the competition, rose to become the new world number 1 in the FEI ranking for dressage riders for the first time in his career while his championship horse “Zonik Plus” also rose to the top of the FEI rankings for dressage horses.

Verboomen and Zonik Plus continued his 2025 winning streak by winning both the Grand Prix, setting a new personal best of 81.195%, and the Free Style competitions at the second leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup 2025/2026 Western European League in Lyon, France.

Having delivered a career-defining season, capturing double gold at the FEI Dressage European Championship in Crozet (FRA) and reaching the top of the FEI Dressage World Ranking in 2025, Verboomen was chosen as the 2025 FEI Best Athlete, the first such awarded won by a Belgian rider, male or female.

Verboomen and Zonik Plus ended 2025 winning both the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle at the Frankfurt World’s Best 12 special CDI5* event, posting their first ever score above 90% in the Freestyle.

Zonik Plus is the son of Dutch Warmblood Glock’s Zonik N.O.P, by Blue Hors Zack. Zonik become a very influential stallion in Danish breeding in his own right. He won the Danish Dressage Championships at four with 9.3 points, including a 10 for his trot. He also won the Danish Stallion Licensing. In 2017, he made his international debut with Edward Gal. He was then the Dutch Champion for three consecutive years. As an eight-year-old, he competed in the World Equestrian Games and the European Championships.

On the dam side, Heideblume, is the daughter of Trakehner stallion Hohenstein I. In 2002, Hohenstein I was Trakehner Stallion of the Year; he was the Vice-Champion of the 1994 Stallion Performance Test and, like his grandson, went on to compete at the Grand Prix level.