Charlotte Bredahl-Baker

Busy Being Back in the Show Ring

Windfall drew Charlotte back to the show ring, and her successes with the talented stallion were quickly followed by successes with Eskada, a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding she owns in partnership with Sayoko Nakatani of Japan. At the 2005 California Dressage Championships, Charlotte and Eskada garnered three championship wins – two at Prix St. Georges and one at Intermediaire with scores in the 70s. In 2005 Eskada was also named USDF Horse of the year at 4 th level.

That same year, Charlotte took over the ride on the late Carol Plough’s Dutch Warmblood gelding Komo. With the 14-year-old Komo, owned by Kathy and Tom Pavlich of Highland, Calif., Charlotte rode away with four Grand Prix championships at the 2005 California Dressage Championships, earning three scores in the upper 60s and a 74.31 percent.

With such a successful record, Charlotte decided to hit the show circuit big time for the winter of 2006. She and her husband, Joel Baker, packed up their son Zach, Charlotte’s horses and the family dog and headed off to the Florida circuit. The family had a fantastic time in Wellington.

Dressage, show jumping and polo competitions were within a five minute drive. Hence, Joel could help Charlotte with dressage shows in the morning and then travel down the street to spend the rest of the day watching some of the best polo in the world.

photo credit:susanjstickle.com