Larissa Pauluis Tops Early Bird Grand Prix at 2025 CDI-W Mechelen

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

Belgian double Olympian Larissa Pauluis topped the early bird Grand Prix class at the 2025 CDI-W Mechelen on Sunday morning 28 December 2025. 

An Array of Riders

A field of 15 riders from 7 different nations gathered in the Nekkerhallen exhibition centre in Malines/Mechelen, Belgium for the annual World Cup competition between Christmas and New Year.

A last minute substitution took place because Belgian Olympic duo Domien Michiels and Intermezzo van het Meerdaalhof withdrew for health reasons. "During the final training session at home Intermezzo didn't feel completely fit. Our top priority now is giving our friend the time and care needed to return to full health and fitness," Michiels took to Instagram.  They were replaced by stand-by pair Isabel Cool and Herr Charmeur, who just came fresh off competing at the World Cup qualifier in London.

Cool wasn't the only putting their horses on double duty in the month of December. Larissa Pauluis came straight from the Frankfurt Top 12 less than a week ago, just like Ingrid Klimke with First Class, while Fie Skarsoe rode her Lusitano Imperados dos Cedros in London. Van der Putten was also in London, but with her number two ride, Kuvasz, while the prima donna in her stable, Zantana, had Mechelen on her dance card.

With two stellar shows - London and Frankfurt - scheduled the same weekend mid December (18 - 21 Dec), Mechelen saw most of Europe's star riders absent from its 2025 edition. However the timid World Nr 1, Justin Verboomen, made up for it by entering his number two, Djembe de Hus, disclosing to Eurodressage he felt obliged to pay respect to the loyal Belgian home crowd which supported him last year during his break-through in Mechelen with Zonik Plus.

In the Naughty Corner

The fact that dressage continues to be an after-thought in show jumping country Belgium was re-confirmed by peeking at the show schedule and seeing the Grand Prix slated for 8 'o clock in the morning. Gulp ! While Belgium experienced a monumental break-out year in dressage sport with Verboomen winning the CDIO Aachen, the European Championships, the Top 12, and standing in the world number one position on the FEI ranking, not a single bright mind in Mechelen got the message that dressage might be gaining popularity in Belgium and its "World Cup" class deserves a more respectable time slot on the programme, maybe deserving more priority than a CSI 2* class which followed the Grand Prix today.

By sending the World Cup Grand Prix into the naughty corner of the 8 AM slot, Mechelen got a cookie of its own dough: an empty stadium. The stands were not even filled by a third and those seated in the VIP and bleachers were the hard-core fans: parents and youth riders, breeders, competitors. "A class at 8 AM in Mechelen means I have to get up at 4.30 AM to feed the horses and drive to Mechelen, no thanks," a dressage ticket-holder took to social media. Quod erat demonstrandum.

For this journalist it was a 6h15 AM wake-up call and a 1h20-min drive through the pitch black of a winter night to make it to Mechelen on time.. and still be 7 minutes late. I missed the first pair. Darn.

Once in a Blue Moon

The exhibition hall in Mechelen is always very festive with Christmas decoration and lights everywhere and the colour blue - in the past from bank sponsor KBC and now from title sponsor BMW - setting the atmosphere.

Weert (NED) based Polish rider Hubert Jankowski kicked off the class with his 14-year old KWPN mare Guerlain (by Hotline x Painted Black), riding his first ever Western European league World Cup qualifier. He was followed by Dutch Thamar Zweistra on her third Grand Prix horse Kingsdale (by Everdale x Negro). They both scored around 67.5%. 

Third to go was Justin Verboomen on the French owned Djembe de Hus, a 10-year old Oldenburg gelding by Damon Hill x Argentinus, who has previously been trained and competed at Grand Prix level by Jessica Michel (FRA) and Marcus Hermes (GER). Djembe's owner, millionaire entrepreneur Xavier Marie, who rarely ever appears at a horse show (this reporter has never seen him at a dressage show ever), put Djembe in training with Verboomen at the start of the year and the horse finally seems to come into his own.

Verboomen gave a little masterclass in confidence building and how to make a combination with a horse. The sensitive chestnut was so nice and supple in the contact, light in the frame, easy-going. He's quite ponyesque and not the biggest mover, but Verboomen rode fantastic piaffe-passage combinations with impeccable transitions, never disturbing the horse, never prodding with his heels/spurs. It was friendly, effortless and beautiful dressage to watch. Sure the big whopping scores were not there, because judges award quality of gaits on top of quality of training .. and there were a few small technicalities such as the hesitant entry and onset to passage, the half passes which got a tiny fraction pasasgey and the tempi changes oh so correct but not the most ground covering. 

The panel rewarded the ride with 73.065% which ended up placing them second. Two judges had him first (one with 75.671%), hile two had them third and one fourth. The low score was 71.630%. The ground jury in Mechelen was made up of Susanne Baarup (DEN), Freddy Leymann (BEL), Isobel Wessels (GBR), Francis Verbeek-van Rooy (NED), and Olivier Smeets (BEL).

Eight in Between

There were eight rides in between Verboomen and the top scoring rider of the day, Larissa Pauluis. 

Ingrid Klimke and Gut Hülsen's 13-year old Hanoverian mare First Class (by Furstenball x Bergamon) rode beautiful halts and super extended walk, but had some issues with the flying changes and the passage lacked collection and self carriage. They were 12th with 67.696%.

Emmelie Scholtens and Rom Vermunt's 10-year old KWPN stallion Kyton (by Ferguson x Ferro) made their CDI debut in Kronenberg at the end of November, but could not find their groove today. The passage work was uneven behind, he dropped out of the one tempi and there was too much tension overall that meddled with the accuracy of the movements. Overall the stallion stayed in one, fixed frame, always high up with his big neck and never truly stretching into the contact and over the back. It was an off day, but the liver chestnut is young at Grand Prix and there is much more to come. Today it was 65.652%.

Two Luxembourg pairs came to Mechelen: Skarsoe on Imperados dos Cedros and Olympian Nicolas Wagner on his long-time Grand Prix partner Quater Back Junior, a 16-year old Hanoverian by Quaterback x Bonheur, the only horse he's been competing internationally since 2018. The highlights were the extended canter and left pirouette, but the piaffes remained small today. Wagner landed 7th place with 68.457% whole Skarsoe and Manon Ackermann's Lusitano were 9th with 68.348%. The grey has much talent for piaffe and passage, but had some difficulties with straightness in the body today in several movements. 

Belgian team combination Charlotte Defalque and the 19-year old KWPN gelding Botticelli (by Vivaldi x Koss) are having their swan song in Mechelen as the chestnut will be retired from sport soon. The lovely gelding has proven a treasure for Belgian sport, always consistent and reliable, always fit and willing. Although the miles are now noticeable, he put in yet another test with so much heart and plenty of good points, including some piaffes. They got 68.283% for 11th place. 

Isabel Cool and her 12-year old SBS bred Herr Charmeur Coolhorses (by Charmeur x Alabastro) were 9th with 68.348%. The pair had a tricky start wen Isabel dropped the reins and had to scramble to get them back into her hands. The judges were in unison in scoring this pair.

Belgian Wim Verwimp and the Korean owned 11-year old Portuguese sport horse bred Jedai de Massa (by Don Juan de Hus x Galopin de la Font) are coming into their own. The dark bay is very sensitive and does not look an easy ride but today Verwimp kept the reins longer and the contact lighter. He didn't always stay up in the poll, but the piaffe-passage had a good rhythm, the ones were straight, but overall the connection from back to front has to improve. They got 69.022% for 6th place

Pauluis on Top

In the absence of Belgium,'s number one, Zonik Plus, the road was clear for Larissa Pauluis to potentially grab the victory in Mechelen and so she did. As 11th pair to go in the class, the pair rode bouncy trot extensions and half passes, an extended walk with two hooves overtrack and good piaffes, although at times Pauluis' 15-year old KWPN gelding Flambeau (by Ampere x Zeoliet) gets a bit high in the poll. The really point-scoring movements were in canter with fabulous two tempi changes and very strong zig zag. In the final centerline they really found their rhythm and finished strongly. They scored a personal best of 73.913% for the win. This is their thirteenth international win. 

Larissa's last name seems a tongue twister across the globe, even in Belgium it made the Dutch speaking announcer stumble. For the English speakers, it's pronounced "Poh-Louie". 

With Pauluis first and Verboomen on Djembe second it was a Belgian one-two on home turf in Mechelen.

Challengers

The two pairs challenging the Belgian biscuit for a top place were German based Portuguese Joao Moreira and Dutch team rider Marieke van der Putten. 

Moreira and the Brazilian owned, 10-year old Oldenburg stallion Drosa Furst Kennedy (by Fursten-Look x Don Kennedy) were the last to go today at 10h16 o' clock and settled into the top three with 72.544%. The black stallion is a pocket size, but such a machine gun. He's energetic, hot and expressive, but today too tight in the neck overall with the curb a bit too tight. The first passage was not very regular but improved along the way. The horse can do awesome pirouettes and the trot half passes had good crossing of the legs. 

Marieke van der Putten and the Lemmens' couple's 11-year old Oldenburg mare Zantana (by Zonik x Sir Donnerhall) could have challenged the winner for the blue ribbon as the mare showed good improvement since Kronenberg. She looked more settled at the start of the test, achieved overtrack in the trot extensions, even though they still look a bit stiff, but the half passes were fabulous and the first piaffe-passage superb. The extended walk did not have enough relaxation and neck stretch and in the collection she broke into passage in the corner, which must have cost points. The two tempi's were very nice, the zig zag had much ground cover. Zantana changed lead in the right pirouette and was immobile in the final salute. All small issues that tampered with the score (72.130%) but the promise is there.

French Camille Judet Cheret is back on track with her own and Francoise Bourgeois's number one, the 13-year old KWPN bred Herelja Higgins (by Johnson x Gribaldi). The pair competed at four CDI's this year, while Camille had her first baby. They posted a personal best in Mechelen of 71.152%, which is a big improvement after their 61.217% in the Salzburg Grand Prix at the start of the month. Higgins, who certainly takes more after Gribaldi than Johnson, had a nice rhythm in the first piaffe-passage, executed straight two tempi changes and beautiful half passes. Today he looked less tense and tight in the top line and Judet rode him with a longer rein and freer contact, which resulted in a nicer silhouette. 

The penultimate rider to go, Dutch Geert-Jan Raateland and Vmf Stables' 14-year old KWPN gelding Gladiator (by Totilas x Havidoff), landed 8th place with 68.413%. The bay gelding has a stellar ability to piaffe, but was a bit too tense and strong in the contact today.

World Cup points will be earned tomorrow in the Grand Prix kur to music, scheduled for..... drum roll.... 10h30. Hallelujah.. it's on a Monday workday though. Let's hope enough people have Christmas holidays. Many happy returns. 

- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS

Eurodressage took photos of (almost) all dressage competitors in Mechelen. If you are interested to buy photo prints or digital files for social media, email us.

Related Links
Scores: 2025 CDI-W Mechelen
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2025-2026 World Cup show circuit