Isabell Werth and Viva Gold Win the 2026 Lyon World Cup Freestyle

In 2016, Weihegold OLD, ridden by Isabell Werth, won the World Cup freestyle in Lyon for the first time. Five years later, the pair once again led the victory lap at the French World Cup leg. Now, another five years have passed; Weihegold has long since retired, but her grandson is piaffing and passing through the arena in her place with Isabell Werth—and winning as well. That alone is remarkable. But the fact that the ten-year-old Viva Gold OLD left the reigning double European champions, Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus, in the dust makes this success even more significant.

Admittedly, Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus had also left the door open quite a bit. The black horse was more stable in his contact today than he was yesterday in the Grand Prix, though uneven strides repeatedly crept into the piaffe and passage due to tension. Then there were some great passages in the canter sequence again—such as the one where Verboomen had his stallion, also just ten years old, execute one of his beautifully executed pirouettes out of the half-pass, continued riding in the half-pass all the way to the rail, and then performed a two-tempi change on a curved line. It all worked. But during difficult transitions, such as the last one—where the pair collected from the canter into the piaffe pirouette—it was evident that the otherwise so-refined communication between the two wasn’t quite as effortless today as it usually is. They received 85.810 percent.

Viva Takes the Stage

Isabell Werth looked a little tense as she entered the large exhibition hall and was greeted with loud applause. Even though he had already competed at the Festhalle in Frankfurt, such a setting was new for Louisdor Prize winner Viva Gold, who was competing in his first World Cup freestyle in Lyon. “The atmosphere in there was so electrifying; I thought, okay, this is going to be a challenge,” Isabell Werth said after her ride, describing how she felt in those moments. She needn’t have worried. When the routine began, Viva Gold was fully focused and didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the entire difficult freestyle set to Neil Diamond’s music. Quite the contrary—piaffes, passages, and pirouettes were highlights—just like with his grandmother. They likely would have scored even higher than 87.890 percent if the trot extensions had flowed more beautifully through his body and the stallion had maintained a more consistent collected gait. If that’s the case, this pair will be very hard to beat.

“I’m so happy and so proud of Viva,” Isabell Werth gushed. “The venue is great, the spectators are great, and the horse is even greater,” she raved, understandably delighted after this victory against such strong competition. She was asked whether she believes he will join the ranks of her other great horses. “I think so, and I hope so.” After all, today he clearly outperformed the reigning double European champion, earning first place from all the judges.

Strong Belgian

Performances

: Belgium is on the rise. And not just thanks to Justin Verboomen. Third place went to Neumünster champion Larissa Pauluis and her wonderfully supple Flambeau, who delivered a flawless, lively freestyle and was rewarded with a score of 80.530 percent. Here, too, the score could have been significantly higher if Pauluis had managed to present the 16-year-old Ampere son with a raised withers and a bit more length in the neck, maintaining a relative rather than absolute upright posture. But the gelding’s piaffes are among the most active, rhythmically precise, and springy in the entire field.

The most beautiful strong trot, however, was perhaps performed by Wim Verwimp and Jedai de Massa, who celebrated a personal best of 80.455 percent and thus secured a strong fourth-place finish. Speaking of self-carriage—in this discipline, the half-Lusitano by Don Juan de Hus would have been right at the top today.

Van der Putten by Caetano

. In fifth place was Dutch rider Marieke van der Putten with Kuvasz RS2, a superb son of Glamourdale. The 11-year-old stallion is every bit as talented as his sire. What he still lacks is a bit of composure. He scored 78.990 percent.

Behind them was the Portuguese rider Maria Caetano, riding the second half-Lusitano in the field and the second horse bred by Dressage Plus: Hit Plus, a son of Bretton Woods. The pair performed a very beautiful and flawless freestyle, the absolute highlight of which was the effortless one-handed single changes. The black horse executed them in the changing walk as easily as a first-grader. It was truly a joy to watch. With a score of 78.185 percent, they placed sixth.

You can find all the results here.