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3 Days Exmoor National Park Horse Riding Holiday in England, UK
West Lynch Farm, Allerford, Selworthy, West Somerset, Somerset, South West England, England, UK
Moor and hill barefoot horse riding on Exmoor
This listing has one of the 10 most popular offers available in the website
Ride Exmoor Riding's wonderful barefoot horses over Exmoor National Park with views across the Bristol Channel to South Wales, riding over Selworthy Beacon, Dunkery Beacon, Webbers Post, Ley Hill, or Porlock Hill. Some of the most beautiful riding countryside in the UK on well-schooled quiet but forward going horses. You can also enjoy Exmoor Riding’s Gentle Horse and Rider Workshop to help you understand the unique training methods and the way the horses communicate with the team with trust and respect.
Key Information
- Rider Weight Limit: 198 pounds / 90 kilograms
- Horse Height Range: 14.2 to 17.1 hands
- Tack Type: English Tack
- Horse Breed: Appaloosa; Irish Sport Horse; Irish Sport Horse x Welsh Cob; Clydesdale; Irish Cob; Cob x Arab; Dartmoor Cob
Meet the instructors
Cathy & Jess
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Highlights
- 2 riding days over Exmoor
- Visit the famous village of Selworthy
- Rides over North Hill and NT Holnicote Estate
- Approximately 12 miles of woodland and moorland riding per day
- Daily full English breakfasts and light lunches
- 2 night accommodation
Skill level
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Styles
2 days with instruction
Group size: Maximum of 4 participants
Accommodation
Check-in Time:
16:00
Check-out Time:
14:00
Facilities
- Dining area
- Environmentally friendly
- Fireplace
- Garden
- Lounge
- Meditation garden
- Picnic area
- Special menu request
- Terrace
- Free parking
- Free Wi-Fi
- Internet access
- Library
- Parking lot
West Lynch Farm is a delightful homely farmhouse bed and breakfast in Exmoor, a 15th-century national trust farmhouse within Holnicote Estate, Exmoor National Park, Porlock Vale. West Lynch Farm, situated within Exmoor National Park, steeped in history, is a house that tells its own story. It is in a conservation area, an area of outstanding natural beauty, a site of special scientific interest, and a national trust property within the Exmoor National Park.
If you are looking for a peaceful break in an old, eco-friendly farmhouse with activities and local natural history, then you will love staying there. The farmhouse was probably originally the Manor of Bossington and has many fascinating historical features, including the open-hall house design of the medieval period.
Built around 1456, roughly at the same time as the Chapel of Ease on the same ground, with reclamation and restoration through every century since, the house shows a great deal of charm and character. Dogs are welcome to stay at the bed-and-breakfast with you but cannot accompany you on the rides as the horses are not used to dogs.
Foxes Den
This room is the best room with character and comfort in mind, with a separate private shower room. The double/triple (double bed and single bed) bedroom overlooks the garden and hills beyond, while the shower room has an amazing view over the yard with the stables and horses. Quiet, peaceful, and relaxing, this room can also be let with an additional small bed or travel cot.
Badgers Sett
This is a delightful double room with beautiful views overlooking the garden, woods, and hills opposite. There is a shared shower room along the corridor with a basin and a separate shower. Tea and coffee making facilities are available in-room with a TV. This room is also available with a triple room downstairs, Otters Holt, for additional family members sharing the same facilities.
Otters Holt
This is the largest room downstairs running from front to back of the house with plenty of space for the whole family. This room has two single beds and one double bed for larger families. Otters Holt can be let on its own with the use of the upstairs shower room or let with Badgers Sett.
Program
Exmoor Riding’s farm is over 550 years old, staying in a delightful 15th-century farmhouse, in single, double, or group rooms, all within a short walking distance from the delightful village of Porlock. Many people from all over the world return year after year to ride with Exmoor Riding!
Day 1
Arrive at 4pm to settle into your B&B and allow time to explore the local area.
Day 2
Breakfast followed by your first ride out over Exmoor woods, hills, rivers, and moorland. This ride normally visits the woods of Selworthy or around the Porlock Vale through picturesque villages, woodlands rides, rivers and streams. On your return to the farm, a light lunch will be provided, leaving you to enjoy the afternoon in the local area. Evening meals are available in Porlock, one mile from the farm.
Day 3
Have your breakfast at the farmhouse then ride at 10 a.m. and return by 1 p.m., latest, for a light lunch prior to departure. This ride will be more adventurous generally to the top of the moor for some canters and fast riding, conditions and riders depending, returning via steep paths to the Vale below and return to the farm.
Riding
Exmoor Riding is surrounded by amazing woodland and moorland countryside and quiet lane riding. This second ride is normally to Webbers Post near Dunkery Beacon with fantastic views across Exmoor. Routes may change according to weather conditions and riding abilities.
The rides leave straight from the farm over North Hill to Selworthy Beacon, Bossington Beacon, Minehead, Grabbist Hill, Webbers Post, Ley Hill, and Porlock Hill, all of which surround the Porlock Vale. The half-day rides are approximately 2.5 hours in length, approx 10miles often over the steep and challenging terrain.
Horses
Exmoor Riding has eight beautiful horses at the stables to suit all riders of any ability. All of the horses are used to riding barefoot. At Exmoor Riding all the horses will respond well to confident instruction and light hands, through energy connection and understanding. The horses are quality happy horses and are fit and forward going, not suitable for novice or beginner riders.
They have all spent much their riding lives with Exmoor Riding and are used to the steep terrain and hills.
Notes
- Riders must be intermediate or experienced.
- Riders must be able to control a horse in walk, rising trot, and be able to canter over open moorland.
- Riders must be 12 years and over and children will need to wear body protectors.
- Please bring your own riding hat, boots, and jodhpurs.
- Please let Exmoor Riding know your heights, weights, and level of riding experience prior to booking.
- You will need suitable waterproof riding equipment when necessary
- All the horses are 15 hands high or over.
- The terrain may be wet, slippery, and muddy at certain times of the year, and full canters cannot be guaranteed.
Instructors
Cathy Powell
Cathy is trained as a teacher and secretary, lived overseas for several years. She wrote as an environmental journalist, art, and illustration exhibitions and is a mother of two. She masters holistic horse riding and therapy for horses. In addition, she is also a visitor attraction founder and manager, book-keeper and administrator, teacher from pre-school to further education, and also animal care and management, zoo operator, and equestrian yard owner.
Jess Chalker
BTEC Level 3 Horse Care and Management; Ride leader.
Location
Exmoor Riding is situated within the grounds of Exmoor Owl and Hawk Centre, just one mile from Porlock and five miles west of Minehead in England, UK. Exmoor Riding has access to hundreds of miles of off-road riding through woodland and over moorland with spectacular views of the sea and across the moor to Devon and Cornwall.
Exmoor Riding is situated in the sheltered Porlock Vale, nestled at the foot of North Hill with the sea to the northwest and surrounded by glorious riding country all around. The terrain is quite challenging in places and the horses are kept working fit to cope with this. Exmoor Riding is in the heart of the National Trust Holnicote Estate, originally developed as a hunting estate, but not leaving an amazing tapestry of trails and tracks for riding.
This too is within the Exmoor National Park, renowned for some of the best riding country in the world. Several takeaways, pubs, and restaurants are a short walk away in the delightful village of Porlock with menus to suit every dietary requirement.
Distances
- Bridgwater, 30 miles
- Minehead, 5 miles
- Porlock, 1 mile
- Taunton, 30 miles
Features
Activities
- Horse riding
General
- Dining area
- Environmentally friendly
- Fireplace
- Garden
- Lounge
- Meditation garden
- Picnic area
- Special menu request
- Terrace
Services
- Free parking
- Free Wi-Fi
- Internet access
- Library
- Wireless internet
Food
During the holiday you will be served breakfasts and light lunches. The full English breakfast is served in the large dining room, the former Open Hall, including fruit, yogurt, cereals, fruit juice, cooked breakfast, and toast with a log fire in the winter. Sandwiches, light lunches, or cream teas are also provided on your riding holiday break.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Snacks
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Coffee
- Tea
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation
Things to do (optional)
- Gentle horse and rider workshop
- Wildlife safaris
- Owl and Bird of Prey Flying Experiences (120 GBP for two persons)
- Other local activities and experiences include coasteering, orienteering, walking, and cycling
- Picturesque villages, coastal walks, hill walks, river walks
What's included
- 2 half-day rides on barefoot horses in Exmoor National Park
- Half Day Rides over the picturesque and challenging Exmoor countryside
- Daily breakfast and light lunches
- 2 night's accommodation
What's not included
- Evening meals
- Transport to and from the farmhouse
- Airfare
How to get there
Recommended Airports
BHX
Birmingham Airport
186 km
Transfer not provided
BRS
Bristol Airport
62 km
Transfer not provided
LHR
Heathrow Airport
218 km
Transfer not provided
EXT
Exeter International Airport
54 km
Transfer not provided
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Exeter Airport (EXT), Bristol Airport (BRS) or Cardiff Airport (CWL).
Arrival by taxi
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 50% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid on arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookHorseRidingHolidays.com. All major credit cards supported.
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