ONLY IN HORSE & HOUND

Winter preparation paid dividends with confident step-ups, big scores and emerging talent delivered across the levels

The relentlessly positive spirit of the VWH hounds and their huntsman is infectious during a good day’s sport

Oliver Townend’s superstar ride Ballaghmor Class retires sound and fit aged 19 after a stellar career

Exceptionally athletic and a supreme trier, this sensitive character met his ideal match in Oliver Townend. Catherine Austen charts the career of one of the greatest partnerships in eventing history

With 36 years in hunt service behind him, Robert McCarthy is one of the country’s most senior and most respected huntsmen. He talks to Tessa Waugh about Crufts, the current situation and life in Northumberland