Para classification is unfair'

Natasha Baker discusses the need to level up classifications in para dressage

THERE’S no denying that Britain is not where it used to be in the para dressage world order. There are several things we must address to change this, one being the classification system that determines the grade in which a rider competes.

I was classified into what is the current grade III when I was 12 or 13, and as my disability is “confirmed” and not degenerative, I haven’t been reclassified in the 20 years since.

London 2012 put our sport in the limelight, with many people seeing it for the first time and wanting to be involved, which is fantastic. But the new wave of riders coming through are being classified under a different process, while many of us who have been in the sport a long time are not being reclassified.

There is now a completely new panel of classifiers – of FEI-approved health professionals – and the process has changed. When I was classified, riding wasn’t taken into account; just various tests on a bed for strength and coordination. Now, they watch you ride, which is a significant change. How can this be fair?