The family farm is set in a secluded, stunningly elevated position with outstanding 360° views across Exmoor, Dartmoor and several other Counties beyond. Our 270 acres of working farm on the South West Face of Exmoor within Exmoor National Park.

We offer superb riding from the farm across Exmoor, which we believe has some of the best riding country in England with such enormous variety. There are over 400 bridleways within the park with little roadwork required on the lanes and little chance of meeting a car!

All of our horses at West Twitchen Ball Farm have been carefully selected to cover the Exmoor terrain. They are fit, kind and trustworthy; they are capable of carrying various different abilities of rider and of weight, size and height! We rely on our guests being honest with us for their own enjoyment and safety and hope they will tell us their true level of riding so we can fit the horse accordingly. We can either take a slow, relaxing, quieter ride or 'Step up the Pace' depending on ability to enjoy a more forward going free style ride!

Whichever, our horses are not typical 'Nose to Tail' type horses!

Visiting horses are welcome to stay in our American style barn, which is big and airy, at £12:00 p.h.p.n. Due to today's standards visiting horses must be wormed & vaccinated with documentation on arrival. We grow our own haylage, which may be purchased and local straw
can be provided at cost. We have an extremely good vet and local farrier at hand should one be needed.

Accompanied by a guide our guests explore Exmoor's tireless, timeless country. The heather covered moorland, with its combes, rivers and ancient wooded areas. In this fantastic environment we set out to have fun and enjoyment and take in the Wonder of Exmoor with its tranquility, pure fresh air and beauty second to none with all its magic and secret legends. One may see in abundance the richness of wildlife of Buzzards, Red Deer, pre-historic Exmoor pony and archaeological religious sites within the landscape.

Depending on the ride chosen during our adventures we stop at various different watering holes to quench our thirst at Inns of only good repute, take a bite to eat, enjoy a scrummy cream tea and generally meet the local characters or weather permitting have a picnic and swim the local rivers if one desires.

B&B is available at West Twitchen Ball Farm prior or after the riding break, please enquire.

None riding spouses or partners are most welcome to stay. There are many other activities and attractions to enjoy in the area, please ask for details.
Well-mannered dogs are welcome at an additional cost of £2.50 p.d.p.n!
Please keep dogs on leads where there are sheep and deer.

West Twitchen Ball Riding Breaks:

'Riding High' Three day ride from West Twitchen Ball Farm:

The three-day ride from West Twitchen Ball Farm is set out for guests to have a fantastic time, relax and see the best in our opinion of Exmoor by horse back. Please bear with us if itineraries change a little due to unforeseen circumstances or events beyond our control. Our intentions are purely for our guest's best interest.

Three Day Break

Guests should arrive early Sunday evening. After arrival and finding your rooms feel free to go for a short walk, explore or generally relax before an evening meal at th nearby pub.

Monday a.m.
Guests will meet their guide who will be accompanying them for the three days riding.
Day One tends to be a little more relaxed to ease our guests into the Exmoor riding mode. The ride is around four hours with a stop for a relaxing picnic lunch. This is a good day to get to know your trusted steed, learning the terrain with its ever-changing turf, learning some local knowledge, hopefully unwinding generally.

Enjoy exploring the moors; hopefully seeing loads of wildlife a vast assortment of rare birds, Exmoor ponies, the famous red deer of Exmoor and generally taking in the pure fresh air and beauty. Feel the Exmoor atmosphere - a sense of Freedom!

Returning to the homestead mid afternoon to either relax, visit the quaint towns of South Molton or Dulverton, just explore go for a walk or sit back and soak it all up!

Tuesday a.m.
Day Two - after breakfast we begin another action packed adventure.
We would like to take in a great deal on day two weather permitting, with more time in the saddle covering some incredible country.

We plan to ride the historical Ridgeways of Exmoor, visit the tiny hamlet of Hawkridge, ride through some ancient wooded areas, a ride beside the River Barle and much more.
Hawkridge has had a settlement for at least 800 years. The village lies on a natural Ridgeway above the River Barle. Its church - 'St Giles' is ancient, with many interesting points. It has a Norman doorway carved by a local mason, a beautifully carved Norman font, with cable décor. Near the door is a 13th century grave slab acting as a table which commemorates the 'Warden of the Moor' reminding us of when Exmoor was a Royal Hunting Forest and Hawkridge`s churchyard was the annual meeting place of Exmoor's governing body, the 'Swainmote'.

Hawkridge towers above the River Barle where the ride drops down to one of my favourite spots: - 'Tarr Steps'- a truly historical site on the River Barle. Tarr Steps is Britain's oldest known 'Clapper Bridge' and the longest. It is 70 metres long and spans the river in 17 sections of huge stone boulders. A 'clapper' is the flat slabbed horizontal stone, which is supported on piers against which other stones are piled to form a crude 'cutwater'. The cutwater cuts the river's current, which has washed boulders away on several occasions but have been carefully replaced. The bridge formed a dam on one side and ford on the other which made the river possible to cross by pony and cart, or today in low water by truck, the bridge maybe crossed quite safely by foot. Tarr Steps was probably a ford in prehistory- replaced by stepping stones,- which in turn was - replaced by the 'clapper bridge' in the medieval period.

Tarr Farm Inn is situated on the riverbanks where we will have a delicious luncheon.
The menu is very varied and the Inn is a popular spot so we would like our guests to order through us in advance please so food may be organised for our arrival without hopefully too much delay. Sorry lunch is at the guests cost!

After a delicious lunch return home for a well-earned rest and and visit to the nearby pub or restaurant.

There are many other rides possible for day two's exploration - A ride to the pretty village of Withypool nestling on the side of the hill. It is thought under the Normans Withypool was the 'capital' of Exmoor. R D Blackmore wrote part of Lorna Doone in the Royal Oak Inn, probably one of my favourite pubs on Exmoor, so much old character, charm and memorabilia so many stories to learn like General Dwight D Eisenhower came, by horseback for a pint after visiting the American troops training on Exmoor. To the south of the village on top of Withypool Hill is one of Exmoor's very few stone circles, which were highly religious sites. From Withypool one can explore the Barle for endless hours of peace and relaxation generally enjoying the wildlife and sound of surrounding sweet singing birds.
We are happy to discuss the route for day two on booking - Exmoor is our oyster!

Wednesday:
Day Three - sadly time is of an essence with still so much country to see, it will soon be time for us to wish 'Bon Voyage' until next time. We hope that our guests have had a wonderful time and have some fond memories to recount. Before we send our guests on their way we'd like to go for one more ride and explore some more undiscovered country, go for a blast, stop along the way for some lunch generally have a fun ride finishing the afternoon early enough for everyone to have a scrummy cream tea back at the homestead before setting off into the sun!

Prices for West Twitchen Ball Farm 3 Day Riding Break: - £295:00 pp

This riding package is only possible for a minimum of two guests or more.
Additional guests are welcome to come and stay bringing their own horse for this ride or merely join for the day, please enquire for prices.

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Two day 'Safari' rides from West Twitchen Ball Farm:

With our Safari rides we keep the destination a surprise to add to the element of fun! This ride consists of two nights accommodation and two days riding.
Day One - Arrive at West Twitchen Ball Farm at 9.30a.m.for coffee or tea. Set off for a days riding exploring the local areas of Twitchen, North Molton Hill and beyond or Molland, Lanacre areas with all its tranquility, richness of wildlife and pure delight.
The first night is spent at the homestead with supper & breakfast included.

Day Two - full days riding to our sister accommodation where guests will leave their horses. The second night's accommodation is spent in luxury style with both venues having ETC 4 Diamond Accreditation.

The second day either rides from Twitchen - Challacombe or Twitchen -Winsford Hill.
Either direction takes in amazing country, totally unique to Exmoor, to include moorland, combes, wooded areas, the River Barle, to name just a few not forgetting the wildlife, fauna, historical and religious sites along the way.
Twitchen to Challacombe we may ride across the hill to Cow Castle on the River Barle, which is one of Exmoor's three Iron Age Hill Forts connected with upper & middle sections of the River Barle, Cow Castle sits a top a natural knoll (1.5metres high) an effective defence site. Keeping in close proximity of the river we ride past - Picked Stones which depicts the difference between reclaimed lands to upland wastes. At the valley of white water on the flank of the hill there is a collapsed mine 80 metres in length, still visible. This is all that remains of Exmoor's last mining which closed in 1914.

Simonsbath: In 1815 an act for what was formerly the Royal Forest was to be closed John & Frederic Knight attempted to reclaim the 'wastes' of central Exmoor by converting the uplands into fertile areas to for stock and arable farms. He divided the area into small farmsteads and started mining natural mineral sources; this gave employment on the moor. Roads were built, the parish of Exmoor was made and centred on 'Simonsbath' with a pub, school and church all thanks to the Knight family. Onto Challacombe and the Chains - full of mystery, eeriness and beauty surrounding the village, are one of the last areas of 'Old' Exmoor, which are full of bogs of the type that swallowed Carver Doone who shot Lorna Doone in Oare Church as she married John Ridd. Nestled low in the warm village of Challacombe is a lovely old homestead surrounded by its own farmlands waiting to greet its guests.

We have so many different rides it is difficult to take you on one ride that is less special than the other. We are spoilt for choice. One could ride forever and not be bored with such fantastic surrounding scenery.

Exploring another route but over in the Simonsbath direction again our guests can stay at another splendid award winning historical old home. This stands proudly on the side of the hill being surrounded by its own lands and therefore viewing the valley, farmlands, cattle and moorland beyond. With the fog lying low this may feel rather eerie on a cold damp morning but the warm atmosphere of the house and surrounding courtyards diminishes all question.

Twitchen to Winsford Hill:
Riding wide open spaces across the moorland ridgeway sensing really clean, fresh air, a real sense of freedom and hopefully seeing several herds of deer and pony along the way. Even on the dullest of wind-swept foggy cold old days the moor has some incredible sense of power embracing one

We drop down into the River Barle, which begins its journey high up in the Exmoor hills from an area known as the Chains. The Barle travels for 50kms journey until it meets the Exe at Exebridge probably the prettiest of Exmoor Rivers. Completely fascinating the curling winding route it takes, through thick wooded areas, the speed that it travels, immense, yet at others so calm and delightful, you can often see the pools of salmon or brown trout splashing about at the right time! We may possibly visit Withypool, which is thought under the Normans to be the 'Capital' of Exmoor or Hawkridge village both equally as delightful as the other, or we go to Tarr Steps, (see 3 day rides for Tarr Steps.)

Onto Winsford Hill where on a clear day Cornwall's highest point, Brown Willy, can be seen. The sculpted land to the north is Punchbowl: legend claims the Devil scooped the earth to make Dunkery Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor from here. It is said he created the hill by throwing the soil over his shoulder whilst making a well to quench his thirst after building Tarr Steps, where other weird and wonderful stories arrive! Further across the moor to a really historical home of 15th century origins. In years gone by when there was not much else standing on the moor but thick forest, a play ground for hunting this rather beautiful stark stone & slate hunting lodge was built, where horses, hounds and Master stayed, it has many a story to tell and our guests can now enjoy too.

Luggage must be packed and ready for transportation from West Twitchen Ball Farm prior to riding departure on day two. It will be transferred for guests' arrival at second night's accommodation.

Dinner, bed & breakfast will be arranged at either destination all inclusive of price.
Morning of departure transport will be arranged to collect vehicles.

For the 'Safari' package to be taken we need a minimum of two or more guests staying at West Twitchen Ball Farm, other residential guests may bring their own horses at a separate cost.
Please read above for guests wishing to bring their own horse.

Prices for two day 'Safari' from West Twitchen Ball Farm - £255:00pp
With £20:00 p.p. extra to stay at Simonsbath.
Prices to include luggage transfer collection of vehicles etc

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Day Rides:

Having read all the above information one may begin to understand the enormous amount of incredible country we have to offer here on Exmoor to ride across; absolute paradise for anyone loving the countryside.

With our daylong rides our guide takes out his or her guests for around six and a half hours, exploring the surrounding areas, similar to that of the rides above, stopping for lunch along the way & possibly having a swim in the river depending on the weather.

Day rides: £75:00 p.p.

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Afternoon rides: £47:00 p.p. The ride is out for about three and a half to four hours.
Of which time we will also enjoy a tea of sorts, possibly a swim in the river all depending on the weather!

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Morning ride: £30:00 p.p. To include two hours straight riding, depending on ability depends on the pace!

If there is anything further we could do or guests would like another itinerary compiled please feel free to ask, we are at your service.

We look forward to hopefully meeting you soon.

West Twitchen Ball Farm
Twitchen
South Molton
Exmoor
Devon
Tel 01598 741311

email: info@exmoor-ridingholidays.co.uk

websites: www.westtwitchenballfarm.co.uk
www.exmoor-ridingholidays.co.uk

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