Paris 2024: Para equestrian medallists wrangling toddlers and horses

British Para equestrian rider Natasha Baker sealed her bronze medal performance aboard Dawn Chorus by blowing a kiss to her toddler Joshua in the stands. It was a poignant moment at Chateau de Versailles on Tuesday – the first day of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games Para dressage competition.  

Baker, 34, a six-time Paralympic gold medallist, gave birth to son Joshua in 2023 and said it’s been a tough journey regaining her strength after her pregnancy.   

“I’m getting emotional. I could see him and that’s why I was blowing a kiss to him at the end of the test,” she said after finishing third in the individual event grade III.  

Baker admitted she was not as fit as she was at Tokyo 2020.    

“I'm juggling being a mum, trying to be the best mum I can be, and trying to be the best athlete I can be. And the juggle is real.” 

“I had 20 months out of competition when I had Joshua, I had a year out. That's the longest I've ever had out of the saddle.”  

Baker said regaining her form post pregnancy was made easy with a stellar horse like Dawn Chorus, nicknamed Lottie. 

“Lottie is the best girl... I call her Mary Poppins because she's practically perfect in every way.”     

Finding Zen  

For Denmark’s Katrine Kristensen, who won a silver medal in the individual event grade II, motherhood has helped her to deal with the high pressure of competition.  

Before her event, the 28-year-old watched videos of her daughter Agnes.  

“I said ‘Look at her Katrine, she doesn’t care how you ride in there,’” she said.  

Asked if it was harder to wrangle a horse or toddler, she said: “the toddler is the hardest part”.  

Her horse Goerklintgaards Quarter was a little bit spooked before she competed.  

“He’s a very tense horse and so I have to guide him to be calm in the arena,” she said.  

“I said: ‘It’s just a little walk in the park, be calm,’ today he responded very well to those signals.”  

She said Quarter would get a carrot for the top-notch performance.  

“I think Quarter will look at the medal with very big eyes and be like ‘Oh God what is that?’”  

Training for the Paralympics had helped her body recover from giving birth, she said.  

“After giving birth, you have to train a lot to get your stomach (and core muscles) back where they should be,” she said.  

"All the doctors in Denmark said to me: 'It's fantastic how your body has responded to being pregnant together with muscular dystrophy’. It's just completely normal again, even though I have muscular dystrophy."   

Iconic setting  

Chateau de Versailles is the majestic backdrop for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games  Para equestrian.  

The UNESCO World Heritage Site was King Louis XIV’s home in 1682.  

The palace grounds play host to 76 riders and their horses from almost 50 countries.  

The DJ at Versailles arena had fun playing horse-themed songs during the breaks including A Horse with No Name by US folk trio America.  

“I have never been riding in such a beautiful arena as this before,” Kristensen said.  

“I promised myself when I was finished to just look up and take it in.”   

Para dressage is the only artistic sport at the Paralympic Games.  

The sport, sometimes referred to as horse ballet, is about demonstrating the relationship between animal and human through movement.  

Riders are judged for accuracy, quality and the artistic expression of their riding.     

There are 11 events and 33 medals on the table: individual championship (grades I-V), team championship (open), and individual freestyle championship (grades I-V).   

Catch the rest of the Para equestrian action on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.