The day Natasha Baker came to visit

There was a real buzz at the stables when we welcomed a very special visitor – Paralympian equestrian Natasha Baker OBE. The ‘media day’ was to celebrate the RDA being chosen as charity of the year by the London International Horse Show.

Natasha contracted Transverse Myelitis at just 14 months old, resulting in permanent nerve damage, severe weakness in her legs, and loss of balance and sensation. But the desire to follow in her horsey parents’ footsteps was strong, and she started riding with her local Riding for the Disabled Association centre at the age of eight. Unable to use her legs, she learned to instruct her horse entirely through verbal commands and her seat movements. “It was the best time ever”, she said, having ponies, instructors and other participants who all understood the challenges and worked with her to succeed.

“I think horses just have a magical way of understanding what you’re asking them to do,” she says. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re able-bodied or whether you have a disability, they have a sixth sense.”

Since then she’s won six gold and two silver medals across four Paralympics, and gold and silver medals in both World Championships and European Championships. She appears regularly on TV commentating on dressage events, and was awarded an OBE for her services to equestrianism in general, and the Paralympics in particular.

And in October she spent a day with us in Teddington! The RDA is the London International Horse Show’s charity of the year, and we were proud to be chosen to represent the RDA for Natasha’s visit.

Everyone has heard of the International Horse Show, so maybe many more people will know what RDA stands for as a result of this fabulous connection. Natasha met Park Lane regular participant Yasmina and volunteer Yohannes (YoYo) and talked about their ambitions to compete in dressage and show jumping respectively, and accompanied a group of young riders from Clarendon Primary School with our volunteers on a ride in Bushy Park.

This fabulous video captures Natasha’s visit and features many of the Park Lane team. Michael Bishop, Chief Executive of the RDA, introduces it with an inspiring description of the difference that the RDA is able to make to the lives of its members and their families.

Watch Paralympian Natasha Baker and London Horse Show visit our Riding for the Disabled stables:

This article by global news agency AFP is another great account of the day with photos of Natasha with the Clarendon Primary group in Bushy Park, and comments from participants and their parents about what the RDA means to them.

Read Riding for the Disabled transformed my life, says dressage great Baker

If you’ve been moved by this story, you could help the RDA support a child and their family, just as it did Natasha all those years ago. Just head to our Donate page and, as ever, no gift will ever be too small to make a difference to someone.