The remedy for everything

Autumn trail-hunting is H&H hunting editor Catherine Austen's favourite thing, and she is doing her best to get as many mornings as possible.

LIKE the school matron whose remedy for everything from a sick bug to a suspected broken arm was to give us a Strepsil, my self-medication for nearly everything - from a relationship break-up to general malaise to a nasty cold is to go hunting. It occupies your mind and body entirely. There is no time to drip about and feel sorry for oneself, and it is almost impossible not to feel better, even if it is just for a few vital hours.

After a few very intense weeks on-site at big events, where the relentless pace, long hours and camaraderie mean you (me, anyway) are on a constant adrenaline surge, it is easy to "crash" afterwards.

Suddenly, all that vanishes and all that you have is your own company, a laptop at your kitchen table and six or seven months of mucking out in the rain.