BAKER Natasha

Classification
GRADE III (FEI, 19 Aug 2021)

Type of Impairment
Spinal Cord Injuries (farmologie.co.uk, 01 Mar 2021; natasha-baker.com, 01 Sep 2018)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (farmologie.co.uk, 01 Mar 2021; natasha-baker.com, 01 Sep 2018)

Impairment Details
At age 14 months she contracted transverse myelitis, a virus that damages the spine. The condition resulted in permanent nerve damage, loss of balance and weakness in her legs. (farmologie.co.uk, 01 Mar 2021; yourridingsuccess.com, 01 Mar 2020; natasha-baker.com, 01 Sep 2018)

General
MEDIA WORK
She began doing media work related to equestrian sport at the 2017 European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, as she was not competing at the event. Since then she has worked for FEI TV at World Cup competitions, and also co-hosted the 2018 International Equestrian Federation [FEI] Awards in Manama, Bahrain, with Spanish dressage athlete Juan Matute Guimon. "I've never been so nervous in my life. I travelled out there a couple of days ahead of the awards and worked with colleagues form the FEI to write the script, and then we rehearsed a few times too. Once I started though it was all fine and I loved every minute of it. Even in all my years of competition I've never had such a high as I had after that. I was awake until 05:00 running on adrenaline." (fei.org, 12 Apr 2019)

NERVES AND HORSE COMBINATIONS
She says she generally she does not let nerves affect her performance during competition, but depending on the event and the horse she is riding, she may have to adjust the way she handles those nerves. "I think some nerves are a good thing as long as you can direct them in the correct way. Each horse I have ridden is so different, and you can use your nerves, or excitement, as I prefer to call it, to work for you. So for JP [also known as Cabral], he was super sensitive, so I had to be very calm and measured with him to ensure he was relaxed. With Lottie and my old mare Sooki, they prefer to be ridden with a bit more gusto and drive - this is much easier to direct the butterflies too. I think it's really important to work on your own psychology and then learn how to use this in your warm-up to suit the horse. But at the end of the day, no matter where you're riding, whether it's at home or at the Paralympics, it's just you, your horse and the whiteboards - the same test, just a different arena." (sophiefrancesequestrian.com, 13 Dec 2020)

TOKYO 2020 TEAM
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her trainer Lisa Hopkins chose not to travel with her to the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, so she will be accompanied by another trainer, Claire Gallimore, instead. "We are so lucky that the amazing Claire Gallimore has agreed to come out as personal trainer. We have all been working together successfully since 2019 and Claire trained me during the [2021] Hartpury International [in Gloucester, England]. (Facebook page, 17 Jul 2021)