NATASHA BAKER ISSUES a caution. “You wouldn't want to be at our house when the board games come out.” She means that during the likes of Monopoly, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit everyone in her family has their eyes on the prize and is intent on buying the most property, concocting the lengthiest, quirkiest word and answering the most questions to finish in front.
With plenty of clamour, a “whoop” at a lucky turn of the dice (where relevant) and a few shrieks, the Baker household shows itself to be playfully competitive even when sitting around a table. Remove the board, the dice, the cards, the home and place all the Bakers in an environment with real rivals and those ambitious tendencies go stratospheric. Mum Lorraine evented, show jumped and showed horses, the pinnacle being an appearance at HOYS. Dad Phil raced cars and played squash competitively. Great granddad Charles James was a carriage driving enthusiast. Natasha, though, has trumped them all and has a dozen gold medals to her name from the pinnacle of para dressage competitions across the globe.
And here she is on Zoom, serene and placid, polite, personable and frequently smiling, the antithesis of how one might expect a doggedly determined
