The showing season looms

H&H hunting editor Catherine Austen on hound shows, and the camaraderie they bring to the hunt calendar

- Catherine Austen

THIS is, for many of us and excluding those who disport themselves on Exmoor or in rivers, the precise midpoint between hunting seasons. And for me, at least, the physical reality of a day’s hunting couldn’t seem further away. A dismal, depressing spring appears finally to have bucked its ideas up. Britain looks beautiful, and my hunter and I are, er, in summer condition, a far cry from our (relatively) lean, fit winter selves.

My work life is dominated at present by eventing and racing. I haven’t seen a hound or a huntsman for months, and the only times I have really even talked about hunting are when my friend the lady master rings to find out whether I think some mildly scandalous titbit is true or not. It’s rather nice; hunting takes over my life for quite long enough in the winter, and I need a break from it.