With hunt rides underway and autumn hunting starting to take place across the country, the season is slowly coming to life again. Sitting here in the summer during what is a long-lasting drought and heatwave, it is exciting to think that some of the best times of the year are still to come. The mud, the cold, the green grass…
But what is your favourite hour - or even your favourite moment - of a day’s trail hunting?
Is it the anticipation beforehand: plaiting your horse, washing off stable stains (surely this is no one’s favourite moment) and getting everything ready ahead of the opening meet? Perhaps it is loading up in darkness and watching the sun rise as you travel to the first autumn hunting meet of the season. For me, when I was hunt secretary, it was sometimes the simple ritual of stopping for a Costa and a KitKat on the way - nothing extraordinary, but something I looked forward to and still remember fondly.
For many people, their golden hour will be during autumn hunting. Those early September and October mornings can be among the most beautiful times to ride. There is the crisp air, the stubble of the harvested fields and the countryside gradually waking around us. There is a stillness to it which is difficult to describe - a moment in time when you are completely present and everything else seems to fall away.
Or perhaps your favourite moment comes later in the season. Is it trotting to a Boxing Day meet with crowds lining the streets? Arriving at a favourite meet and seeing familiar faces? Could it be a host’s famous hunt teas, or even enjoying the food at a meet that everyone looks forward to each year?
Maybe it is one of those unforgettable days when the rain pours, you are frozen to the bone and can no longer feel your feet, yet it somehow becomes a day you talk about for years afterwards.
For me, some of my happiest memories come from the hour after hunting had finished. As a child, I would return home exhausted and frozen, once we had endured tack cleaning in the freezing tack room we were then allowed to sit on top of the Aga as we relived the day: where we had been, what we had jumped, how hounds had run and, inevitably, the weather.
I still love coming home, washing my horse off and tucking them up in a warm rug with some hot barley. Then, once everything is done, sitting down with family and friends, feeling warm, weary and completely content.
So, what is your golden hour - and what is the little moment within it that makes it so special?
Photo credit: Hattie Austin