Baker praises 'Mary Poppins' horse as GB win bronzes

Great Britain rider Natasha Baker admitted she struggled with balancing competition and motherhood after winning her ninth Paralympic equestrian medal with bronze in the Grade III individual event.

She was followed in winning bronze by team-mate Georgia Wilson, who finished third on Sakura in the Grade II competition.

Fellow Briton Mari Durward-Akhurst was ranked number one in the Grade I category, but failed to reach the podium.

All three women will return on Saturday for their respective individual freestyle competitions after qualifying by virtue of their top eight finishes in Tuesday’s events.

Baker, who has won six Paralympic gold medals since 2012, is taking part in her first major competition after 20 months out, since she gave birth to son Joshua in April 2023.

The 34-year-old described the balance of sport and motherhood as being like “having a million tabs open on your computer”, but praised her support team and her horse Dawn Chorus – who she calls Lottie.

Baker’s score of 73.167 on Dawn Chorus saw her finish third, as world number one Rebecca Hart took gold for USA on Floratina with 77.900, while silver went to Dutch rider Rixt van der Horst on Royal Fonq with 76.433.

But, in an at-times tearful interview, she said that being able to compete in her fourth Games, in front of her young family, was more important than any medal.

"I'm so thrilled, she [Dawn Chorus] was such a superstar,” she said. “She stayed with me the entire way, we didn't have quite as much pizazz as in ideal circumstances but we didn't get any tension either, and that's what I wanted.

"I didn't see Joshua this morning as I was up at some ungodly hour, so I said goodnight to him last night, and then I was blowing a kiss to him at the end of the test."

Paris saw a reunion between Baker and Dawn Chorus, who she has ridden for five years including to team gold at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.

It was an unexpected reunion to some extent, as Baker said she had thought she not getting selected for the GB team at the end of last year.

Asked about winning a medal, she said: "I don't really care. If you had told me I was even going to be selected for Paris last Christmas, I would have laughed in your face.

"To come back is testament to my amazing team, I feel so fortunate and grateful to have this amazing opportunity to show the world how amazing Lottie is. So, who cares what the results are, I'm so happy with her.

"It was really hard [to get back in the saddle]. I think I was naive about the pregnancy, coming back from it. My pregnancy was harder than I imagined it would be, I knew it would be a challenge physically and I knew getting back on it would take time.

“Lottie has so much movement and power, when I got her it took me a year to sit through her trot. But I knew if I was coming back, she would be the one to get me to this position. I call her Mary Poppins, she is practically perfect in every way.

"I'm not as fit as I was in Tokyo, I'm juggling being the best mum I can be and the best athlete I can be. The juggle is real, you know on your computer when you have a million tabs open, that's my brain at all times, anyone who is a mum will understand."

The weather made it a difficult event for all the Grade III competitors, as heavy rain fell throughout the morning at Versailles – although it eased up in the afternoon for Grades I and II.

"Literally, this is my worst nightmare,” said Baker of the conditions. “Tokyo was the perfect scenario for me - hot, really sunny. This is not ideal, we stayed under the covered arena as long as possible, then it actually eased off during my test.”

It was dry for Wilson, who won her third Paralympic bronze medal following two third place finishes in Tokyo.

World number one Fiona Howard of USA won gold on Diamond Dunes with a score of 76.931, while Denmark’s Katrine Kristensen took silver on Goerklintgaards Quarter with 73.966 .

Wilson and Sakura scored 73.414, and afterwards she admitted it is getting tougher for Great Britain to dominate Para-equestrian like they used to.

Britain have won the most gold medals in Para-equestrian at every Games since 1996 – when it was introduced – and have 34 in total. USA, second in the all-time gold table, have nine.

“I knew coming in it was very rare [unlikely] for me to get a medal and hard work if I was to get one,” said Wilson. “But everyone is just getting better and better.”

Britain’s final medal hope on Tuesday was Durward-Akhurst, who had never previously failed to finish on the podium while riding current mount Athene Lindebjerg since the start of 2023.

But on her Paralympic debut in Versailles, the pair were unable to deliver a medal with a sixth-place finish.

Latvia's Rihard Snikus won gold, with Roxanne Trunnel claiming a third American medal of the day in second. Sara Morganti of Italy won bronze.

Durward-Akhurst said she had struggled with nerves on the morning of the competition, but insisted that she and her horse could not have done any more.

"It was a lot of pressure, this morning has been a nightmare,” she said. “But once I got on her [Athene Lindebjerg], she went into that arena and I knew she was going to look after me.

"I was getting myself in a state [this morning], trying to find things to do to keep myself occupied.

"We couldn't have done any more."

All four of Britain’s equestrian squad – Baker, Durward-Akhurst, Wilson and Sophie Wells – will also compete in the team event on Friday, with Wells in Grade V individual action on Wednesday.