Natasha Baker winning her second gold medal for Great Britain. Baker set a Paralympic record with her win in the Grade II Individual Championships. Photo via FEI twitter.
The Paralympics have concluded, and as the familiar tune goes, ‘Great Britain swept the competition.’ While I’m not the most familiar with Para-competition (I still have to look up the Grade I, II, etc) I know enough to know that I could never be a Paralympian. Besides the obvious, the fact that I’m lucky enough in life to have full control and ability in my body, although not always of my mouth, there are other reasons. Here they are:
1. I have never, I repeat NEVER come close to scoring a 82.75%. That was the gold-medal winning score of Sophie Christiansen in the Grade Ia championships. The closest I ever came was a 68 in Training 3, and that’s only because I think the judge was sleeping when I did my trot-walk transitions.
2. My horse isn’t well trained enough. These horses are straight up amazing, folks. They are trained to the highest degree, keen to pick up the slightest cues. My horse, on the other hand, forgets how to leg yield, pick up a canter lead, go over ground poles, and walk in a straight line on a daily basis.
3. I hate working out. Not only do Paralympians have daily strength training, they have to go to a variety of physicians to work on the parts of their body that are lacking. For instance, Para-dressage rider Emma Sheardown says she goes to get her ‘hips loosened.’ I don’t know what that is, but it sounds painful and unlike Emma, I like my hips just where they are. [Horse Answers]
4. I have a bad attitude. Even after being born with, or obtaining a disability, they still have a sunnier outlook than I do on my best day. They see a never-ending supply of doctors, push through the pain of surgeries and physical therapy, and constantly have to explain what Grade II is, and they do it all with a smile. I’m in absolute awe of them.
Congratulations to all of the Paralympian Athletes, and all equestrians competing with a disability. You all are amazing!
