"I'd done my best and I know I couldn't have done any more than that."

Baker, who contracted traverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spine that affects nerve endings, when she was 14 months old, was riding horses before she could walk, tucked into a basket saddle on her mother's pony.

She was encouraged to continue riding in order to relieve the constant pain in her back and at the age of ten, declared that she wanted to go to the Paralympics and win a gold medal after watching her teammate Lee Pearson compete in Sydney.

Asked if she had a message for any ten-year-olds who might have been inspired by her success this week, she said: "Go for it, just do it. Follow your heart and follow your dreams and don't let anything hold you back."

Baker, from Uxbridge, Middlesex, claimed that she and Cabral, her Polish-bred horse who is nicknamed JP after the late Pope John-Paul II, had been so far behind the music that she had to "completely improvise".

She clearly did an excellent job because no one, not least the judges, appeared to notice as she glided across the arena with the 11-year-old Gelding, controlling him with her voice and upper body movements.

As Baker completed her event, the crowd, who had been warned not to cheer or clap the competitors to avoid scaring the horses and causing a fall, were initially unsure how to react and just a faint ripple of applause rang out.

But realising she had done well, Baker threw her arms in the air, indicating to them to make some noise. No one needed to be told twice and the arena was soon filled with deafening cheers.

"I'm never going to get that again," she said. "I'm never going to get that with JP again so why not make the most of it?"

Baker's mother Lorraine, who now coaches her daughter, was in the arena to witness her come full circle and achieve her dreams.

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