Riding in Dartmoor?

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smellsofhorse

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Hi, could anyone tell me about the riding in Dartmoor?
Particularly around Moretonhampsted?

I grew up in North Somerset. With normal bridle way hacking.
We have lived in the New Forest for around 18 months now where it is open to all, just go through gate to the different enclosures and watch out for the boggy bits!


I hear Dartmoor riding is different.
Whats it like and how much of it is there?!

Thank you
 
Well, unless it has got larger, or shrunk, it is about 350 sq miles, of varied terrain. More rock, more hills, less trees than the NF. I lived and rode around Yelverton/Meavy which is the Plymouth end, and in Bovey which is under Haytor. Great country to ride over and live around, bleak and beautiful at the same time, quite different from the NF but you will have the advantage of being bog savvy :)
 
smellsofhorse said:
I hear Dartmoor riding is different.
Whats it like and how much of it is there?!

Thank you
Click to expand...

there is lots of it and most of it is open or bridlepaths plus hills. Having ridden on both Dartmoor is slower and harder, NF was a lot flatter and faster.

You will need to get up a fair bit towards the common from Moreton to get good riding.
 
Like enfys I live in Yelverton and often ride on the moor. I tend to ride nearer to Horrabridge side of the moor which can get quite busy during the summer months with tourists and dog walkers. However it's still a lovely part of the world to live and ride!
 
paddy555 said:
there is lots of it and most of it is open or bridlepaths plus hills. Having ridden on both Dartmoor is slower and harder, NF was a lot flatter and faster.

You will need to get up a fair bit towards the common from Moreton to get good riding.
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I was told the Moor could be accessed from the fields.
But I need to look myself.
From my time spent staring at Google maps it's all looks like farm land!
I cant see any obvious tracks or bridleway.or ascess points!
 
Im on the western side & think Dartmoor is fab. Miles & miles of open country, lots of it suitable for galloping. Pubs that you can tie up at, I never get bored & horses get very fit with all the hill work. You could always come down & try it out at one of the stables on the moor - adventure Clydesdale at dartmeet has great pictures on their Facebook page of what you could expect, or cholwell riding stables at Mary tavy is another that goes straight onto the moor.
 
scewal said:
Like enfys I live in Yelverton and often ride on the moor. I tend to ride nearer to Horrabridge side of the moor which can get quite busy during the summer months with tourists and dog walkers. However it's still a lovely part of the world to live and ride!
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I was there a very long time ago (like 30 odd years :( ) I worked at Crossways, when it was a lot different, and a riding school. I will never forget riding across the moor once (opposite the Golf course) when suddenly riders and horses started flying everywhere, really it was like a Benny Hill clip, horses running off and people jogging after them, the soldiers were up there practising being tufts of grass! Mind after a few got stepped on they decided being a tuft of grass wasn't so great after all.
 
Enfys said:
I lived and rode around Yelverton/Meavy which is the Plymouth end, and in Bovey which is under Haytor.
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Was Haytor Vale Riding School still going then, run by Captain and Mrs Woof?

Used to hack up to and around Haytor back in the day (I am a born and bred Devonian in exile). Lovely country. Not sure about the Moretonhampstead area, though.
 
I livery at Haytor Vale, we have access straight onto the moor and this end it is pretty much open access, just watch out for the boggy bits. Very hilly and some paths are rocky but mostly grassy tracks with the odd granite bit sticking out. Lots of paths everywhere. I love it. We can also get up to Yarner woods and Rora woods really easily from here.
 
smellsofhorse said:
I was told the Moor could be accessed from the fields.
But I need to look myself.
From my time spent staring at Google maps it's all looks like farm land!
I cant see any obvious tracks or bridleway.or ascess points!
Click to expand...

http://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/

im fairly sure dartmoor looks nothing like farm land, perhap have a google further, the reason there is not a mass of bridleways is it is open moorland
 
smellsofhorse said:
I was told the Moor could be accessed from the fields.
But I need to look myself.
From my time spent staring at Google maps it's all looks like farm land!
I cant see any obvious tracks or bridleway.or ascess points!
Click to expand...

I know the area very well. If you want to tell me where it is I can tell you what you will be riding on and how far it will be onto the open common. ( pm if you don't want to put the location on here)
 
im on the North Moor side, we have no bridle ways, just miles and miles of open moorland, with some superb gallops. We dont really have bogs, but some marsh areas but very easy to see those.
 
paddy555 said:
that's a blast from the past!
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Indeed - had some lessons there with Captain Wooff many years ago. I then got my own pony and was based in Torbay so wasn't up that way till years later. My pony went on loan in Lustleigh when I was doing my A levels but I still used to go up and ride. I used to ride out for hours just exploring, no map but my pony had a good sense of direction and if I wasn't sure at a crossroads could be relied on to head home. I remember bridlepaths and going through woods, ambling along quiet roads and open moorland. I often rode up to Haytor which I could recognise easily.
 
Many many moons ago I used to go riding holidays from a place just outside Ivybridge. We used to hack up the lanes then up a green lane and straight onto the moors. There was plenty of places for a whizz but also plenty of rocky areas to picky your way slowly through. The one thing I do remember though was lots of bracken, and given the meteoric rise of the tic and all the problems they bring, I would give that serious thought and invest in a tic puller.
 
fatpiggy said:
Many many moons ago I used to go riding holidays from a place just outside Ivybridge. We used to hack up the lanes then up a green lane and straight onto the moors. There was plenty of places for a whizz but also plenty of rocky areas to picky your way slowly through. The one thing I do remember though was lots of bracken, and given the meteoric rise of the tic and all the problems they bring, I would give that serious thought and invest in a tic puller.
Click to expand...


In the new forest we have to contend with crab flies. Something I'd never heard of until moving there!
 
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