Horse Riding
With its long equine history Exmoor is a great place to come and ride and what better way to explore the 267 square miles of stunning National Park landscape than from the back of a horse. The quiet and open network of bridleways and lanes offer some of the best riding in the UK, including some sections of coastal bridleway, along with our beautiful open heather moorland and steeply wooded valleys.
Within the National Park boundaries are over 300 miles of bridleways, in fact well over 50% of our public rights of way network has bridleway or higher rights, plus significant permissive access in addition to this. The 33 mile Coleridge Way Bridleway route also offers some wonderful riding from the Quantock Hills to Exmoor following in the footsteps of the Romantic Poet Samuel Coleridge.
Horses and ponies can be readily hired, by the hour or longer, from one of the many riding schools or trekking centres. Some centres arrange special picnic or pub day rides, or week-long holidays. Most centres offer some kind of tuition; this can vary from very basic to more advanced lessons depending on the rider's needs and ability. All breeds and sizes of horse and pony are normally available to cater for every type of rider from the beginner to the more accomplished rider. Please visit Active Exmoor for more information on providers.
Many riders are now bringing their own horses on holiday with them and some farms and riding stables can provide suitable accommodation for both horse and rider. Please visit Active Exmoor for more information on providers. Visitors can then explore at leisure the variety of scenery that Exmoor offers with great advice on local routes from the accommodation provider.
if you are visitng Exmoor, you may find the BHS leaflet on Hill and Moorland Riding [pdf, 99KB] useful (this leaflet is being reviewed and a reprint will be issued soon).
Exmoor also hosts some superb equine events every year, including the Golden Horseshoe endurance ride. Visit Active Exmoor for more details on upcoming events.
To help you plan your routes it is wise to buy the OS Explorer Map OL9 which covers the whole of Exmoor and shows all the bridleways in great detail.