'I loves 'im at once'

Tessa Waugh finds Surtees ringing in her ears as she and a friend are welcomed into the Percy fray on a brace of ponies, and rejoice in the thread of hunting that unites rural parts

MY friend Emma and I went for a day with the Percy last week. As so often with best-laid plans it was wet in the morning with high winds forecast.

A tentative, "Are we still going?" came through on WhatsApp first thing as some others had already cried off. "Yes def," I replied, because we had been planning the trip for ages. An hour later Emma was here with her trailer to collect me and Mary's pony Issy with bacon sandwiches on board for the journey.