Umbrellas are not supposed to be brought into the equestrian arena – they startle the horses. But the Games volunteers at the gates allowed some flexibility as the morning rain hurtled down and the spectators perched in the open‑air stands opened their parapluies and hunched underneath, the teachers herding troupes of back‑to-schoolchildren cursing their luck.
Natasha Baker, who won bronze in the grade‑three individual dressage event on Dawn Chorus (known as Lottie) was one of the unlucky ones who rode before the deluge cleared, her test done with the huge gardens of Versailles behind her unrolling to a palace that was half-hidden by a damp shroud.
Her gloves still wet from the morning deluge, she came away from her afternoon medal ceremony thrilled after a year out of the saddle after the birth of her son, Joshua, in 2023. He sat beside her on the mobility scooter playing with the medal – the ninth of Baker’s Paralympic career.
“I’m so happy,” she said. “It’s the most amazing feeling. I didn’t come here hoping or expecting a medal, this is for the other mums in the world to show that you can still have a baby and follow your dreams.
“I was very naive going into the whole pregnancy, coming back from it and everything. I don’t think you really know what’s going to happen until you’re in that situation. And my pregnancy was harder than I imagined it would be. I knew it would be a challenge physically. But it is such an unknown.”
It has been a mixed summer for British equestrianism. On the eve of the Olympics, a video emerged of multiple medal winner Charlotte Dujardin whipping her horse 24 times. Then came the news that Lee Pearson, Britain’s third most successful Paralympian, was unavailable for selection for Paris because of a suspension and investigation into his conduct. In between, at the Olympics, came gold medals in the team equestrianism and show jumping, an individual bronze in the eventing and a dressage team bronze.
Baker was dismissive when asked whether Dujardin’s actions had smeared dressage as a sport. “It is clear to see here, and in the Olympics, that there are such amazing bonds, such trust, we love our horses so, so much. Especially in para-dressage, we are trusting our horses with our entire lives.
“I am pretty useless physically so I am putting all of my trust in Lottie and she loves me as much as I love her. Just because one situation has happened does not mean we are all doing the same thing.”
Britain’s second bronze was taken by a happy Georgia Wilson (in the grade two tests), on her chestnut mare Sakura who, she said, gave her a big kiss in the stables that morning. Wilson, who won two bronze medals at Tokyo after a late call-up, said the rest of the world was catching up with Britain, who have been dominant at previous games. “The whole sport has grown. The competition is really high, which is exciting.”
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Baker, Wilson and Mari Durward-Akhurst (who made her Paralympic debut on Athene Lindebjerg and finished sixth in the grade‑one individual event) have all qualified for the freestyle competitions on Saturday.
Para equestrianism is not only 20km south-west of Paris, but a different world to the clamour of the velodrome or the sweat and violence of wheelchair rugby. The playing field is a toy-town arena, with mini white fences, the judges sit inside mushroom huts assessing, in percentages, how in harmony horse and rider are.
Sometimes, a friendly horse stands to the side, brought in to reassure the competing animal that all is well. Everyone is immaculate from the knotted manes and jauntily brushed tails of the horses to the beaded bun nets and crisp ironed jackets of the humans.
There is something else, a thread, that weaves between the potential power of the horses, between the riders, whose lives out of the saddle are not always easy, and between the quiet of the crowd who show their respect with silent applause, that makes the whole shebang incredibly moving.
