With goodwill at fever pitch and community spirit at an all-time high, it’s not hunting that gets in the way of Christmas, but perhaps the other way around, as Tessa Waugh writes

A Christmas shopping trip turns into a chance to catch up on pony gossip for Tessa Waugh , who is on the back foot as far as present buying is concerned but replete with tales of happy new homes

While Tessa Waugh can never predict whether she’ll turn into a misanthrope or hostess with the mostest at her home meet, the day is a roaring success – with sausage rolls, sunshine and smiles

There’s a last-minute change of huntsman for the Bedale opening meet, and hounds do their very best in less-than-ideal conditions

The smell of mud and hot horses in a freezing downpour elevates the spirits, while the eventual toe-thawing in the shower is a cause for jubilation, finds an undaunted Tessa Waugh

Never work with animals and children, they say, but surely it isn’t a proper Nativity without them?