Isabell Werth Rides Wendy de Fontaine to Personal Best to Lead Germany to Aachen Nations Cup Victory, Belgium Claims Silver, Sweden Bronze

Isabell Werth on Wendy de Fontaine acnowledging the packed stadium applauding the pair’s individual Grand Prix victory that led Germany to Nations Cup gold. © Ken Braddick/DRESSAGE-NEWS.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

AACHEN, Germany, July 3, 2025–Isabell Werth rode her Olympic gold medal mount Wendy to a personal best score to lead Germany to victory in the prestigious CDIO5* Nations Cup Thursday while Justin Verboomen on the nine-year-old Zonik Plus was runner-up individually to help Belgium earn silver. Sweden took bronze.

Team results:

1. Germany 232.065; 2. Belgium 219.804; 3. Sweden 216.935; 4. Great Britain 215.892; 5. Denmark 215.631; 6. Netherlands 212.826; 7. Portugal 212.478; 8. USA 206.436; 9. Spain 204.521.

The results also mean Germany, with one more competition to go in the trans-Atlantic series, appears likely to claim the series title for the third straight year.

The United States placed eighth out of nine countries after Kevin Kohmann on was eliminated by a single judge for blood in the mouth, a decision that many in the media and the crowd said could not be confirmed. The swab when sought after the event was found to have been swamped with coffee. The decision could not be appealed.

Kevin Kohmann of USA walking Dünensee out of the competition arena after being eliminated for blood in the mouth. © 2025 Ken Braddick/DRESSAGE-NEWS.com

Organizers of the World Equestrian Festival, the most prestigious horse show globally, said the decision was out of its hands because the rules of the FEI, the International Equestrian Federation, placed the decision in the hands of the judge at C. There was no judge at the news conference.

However, the organizer’s sports director, Birgit Rosenberg, said they are looking into the circumstances of the elimination.

The annual Aachen Nations Cup is the most prestigious team event aside from Olympics and international championships.

Isabell said that Wendy, the 11-year-old Danish mare she began competing in February last year then won this event in 2024 and on the gold medal team in Paris a month later, “was very focused and it was also a great improvement, what we hoped for from year to year.”

“Now we know each other so much better and last year of course it was very special because it was the competition, the show that qualified me for the Olympic Games and so that was really emotional because it was a great improvement from day to day, from show to show, from competition to competition and I think at the beginning of the year no one could expect that she would improve or we both would improve like we did. That was fantastic and today I was really thinking about that it’s just one year and it feels like years, so that makes it very special.

“She’s so clear in her mind and she’s so focused and she knows when it’s important and she comes in and then there’s something on top, she’s really a performer and now, of course, the whole body, the whole work’s improved, more and more. She’s just 11 so that makes always an improvement in the body and knowing each other much better, so that’s important.”

Her team mates Thursday were Frederic Wandres on his Paris Olympic mount, Bluetooth OLD, and the 30-year-old Katharina Hemmer on Denoix PCH, a Hanoverian gelding owned by Nancy Gooding of Plum Creek Hollow Farm in Larkspur, Colorado who was in Aachen to watch the competition.

An emotional Justin Verboomen riding his Zonik Plus out of the arena after placing second individually in the CDIO5* Nations Cup and leading his Belgium team to the silver medal. © 2025 Ken Braddick/DRESSAGE-NEWS.com

Justin Verboomen, who was runner-up individually, on Zonik Plus, a nine-year-old Hanoverian stallion that Justin developed from a youngster and began Big Tour seven months ago, said he expected to perform well “because he is really a special horse.

“I am really proud of him and I am happy with the progress, all the progress he made in a very short period of time in the last few months. At home it’s better of course, but I can’t wait the moment when I will be able to show the same as at home, but in the ring.“

Results: