‘We feel so blessed and lucky’: British team rider announces second pregnancy

Paralympic dressage rider Natasha Baker and her husband Marc Jaconelli are expecting their second child.

The couple, who welcomed their son Joshua in 2023, are expecting baby number two around late June.

“We are so excited. It was part of the plan, and we feel so blessed and lucky that it happened so quickly,” Natasha told H&H, adding that they are keeping the gender under their hats for the next couple of weeks.

“It’s been a completely different pregnancy for me this time, in a good way. With Joshua I suffered a lot with nausea from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep and nothing would ease it, whereas this time I’ve been a lot more sick, but then afterwards I feel tons better. But that’s on its way out now, and I’m feeling good.”

Natasha Baker won two bronze medals at the Paris Paralympics with Keystone Dawn Chorus (Lottie). In November Lottie was sold to 17-year-old Irish para rider Katie Reilly.

“We came back from Paris and the plan always was that I wanted a second child. We found out about baby number two about two or three weeks before we made the decision to sell Lottie,” said Natasha.

“Mum and I sat down and did the maths; the Europeans this year were obviously going to be out of the question and it was going to be a tighter turnaround than it was for Paris to get ready for the World Championships next year. I managed for Paris but it wasn’t easy, and I’m going to have another child in the mix, so we thought, ‘Is it really going to work out for the best?’

“Lottie is still so much in her prime and I didn’t want her to be wasted waiting around for me on maternity leave. It was the most sensible but heartbreaking decision, but she’s doing so well with Katie. They are the most wonderful family and hopefully she can give Katie some amazing opportunities.”

Natasha added that she misses Lottie “every single day” – but she hopes to be back in the saddle for the LA 2028 Paralympics.

“It’s weird seeing Lottie’s stable empty, and I think Joshua misses her too,” she said.

“LA is the plan. You never know what happens with horses, or babies, but that’s been my plan all along. I’m going to have quite a long time out of the saddle again, but once baby number two has come along I can look to start getting fit again.

“Obviously I don’t have a horse to get back on to so that’s going to add another level of complexity, but I’ve lots of friends and hopefully I can beg, steal, or borrow a horse to jump on and then start horse shopping again. We’ll see what the future has to hold.”

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