Dressage

Australian dressage rider Abby Weel and Escapado announced themselves on one of the biggest stages in young rider sport on Thursday, with a performance that turned heads at Hagen’s prestigious Future Champions event.

Australian dressage rider Alicia Ryan has been named on Sweden’s short-list for the 2026 FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in Verden (5-9 August) with six-year-old stallion Morricello II VH.

2025 was their year. Since then, one can’t imagine top dressage without the Belgian rider, Justin Verboomen, and his ten-year-old stallion, Zonik Plus. The pair experienced a vertical take-off: Victory in the Lindt Prize at the CHIO Aachen, followed by double gold at the European Championships in Crozet. Since then, the duo has been undefeated: Wins in Lyon, at the Top 12 Dressage Finale in Frankfurt, in 's-Hertogenbosch, Fontainebleau and most recently in front of a home crowd in Lier.

Australian rider Rianna Percy produced a standout weekend of performances at the International Dressage Show in Gościszów, Poland, from 5-7 June.

Justin Verboomen and his uber-talented stallion Zonik Plus are back at the top of the world rankings after their most recent success, leading Team Belgium to Nations Cup victory on home soil in Lier last month. Verboomen now leads the athlete rankings on 2,026 points at the expense of former world number one Denmarks Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour on 2,018, with Great Britains Charlotte Fry also down a place to third on 1,971.

Dressage supremo Wendi Williamson and Don Vito MH have been named as New Zealand’s first athletes for the 2026 FEI World Championships, set to take place in Aachen, Germany from 11-23 August.

Australian dressage rider Jemma Heran has claimed a win and three further podium places with her two up-and-coming horses across four CDI Young Horse classes at Olomouc in the Czech Republic.