Saddle Tor

Our family fortnight in heaven was at Holwell this year! Our family loves to explore wild and magical countryside from a warm and comfortable base, and Holwell Barton certainly provided that for us. We transplanted the whole family, including 2 dogs, 2 horses, 2 ponies and 2 children, from Hampshire to Dartmoor with incredibly little trouble, and as soon as we arrived the children asked to return next year - they hadn't even taken the time to look around properly! The house was welcoming and beautifully presented, views to die for in every direction, and the welcome pack made sure that the holiday could commence immediately. The very large kitchen and living space was perfect for entertaining all the family and friends we invited to share our heavenly holiday, and we even managed to produce Sunday lunch for 15 people. The children were all enchanted with the piglets racing around the farmyard, totally free range, as well as the chickens, dogs and beautiful red Devon cattle. The local town of Bovey Tracey offered all day to day needs within 15 minutes' drive, and there was also a fantastic little farm shop about 10 minutes away. This mean't that, although Holwell feels deliciously remote, nothing is really too far away, making the holiday that much more enjoyable for the caterer. Two very good pubs within 10 minutes in Widecombe came to the rescue on various occassions when I went on strike! Riding across the moor in any direction was a complete treat, and even my son asked to ride every day. All in all, we couldn't recommend this wonderful Dartmoor farm more highly, and will definitely return as soon as we possibly can.

“We have just returned from the most amazing riding holiday at Holwell. I was surfing the net looking for places to stay with horses on Dartmoor and as soon as I came across Holwell, I knew I just had to go!



Although we were really looking forward to our holiday and it all sounded so perfect, I was worried that it may not live up to our expectations. I needn’t have worried. Not only is Holwell a rider’s paradise but from the moment we arrived, we felt so welcome and Philippa and Sebastian were so accommodating to our needs, helping out in any way they could to make us as happy as possible. I had a slow puncture and they sorted everything out for me, contacting the local garage and sorting it all out.



On arrival, our horses were put in a lovely field, right by the super smart stable yard with everything you could want. We didn’t need the stables as it was summer and ours are living out but if you did want a stable, they are first class.



Just when we thought things couldn’t get better, our accommodation in Hay Tor was even better than it looks in the pictures on the web site and had everything you could possibly want; really comfortable beds, comfy sofas, well equipped kitchen and power showers, but the best bit was, as we are completely horse mad, the Stable Door (!) out on to the terrace, where we enjoyed breakfast and early evening drinks soaking up the incredible views and planning our ride for the next day.



If you are looking for a truly perfect riding holiday, then Holwell is the place to go. The riding is unsurpassed and not hard to find your way around as the Tors help you keep your bearings. We took a photocopy of the OS map which I had marked in advance (Philippa was very kind and helped us plan our routes) and we didn’t get lost once (mainly down to Lilli’s great map reading skills – I was in a trance most of the time, not believing we were actually doing this!).



The best thing about the riding from Holwell is that there is such diversity, one minute you are on the Moor, then you are in magical woods, or along picturesque bridleways that seem to go on forever. We took picnics on every ride and would have ridden all day, every day but we only took one horse each! We rode at all different times of the day and wherever we went it was quiet, even on the very small stretches of Devon country lanes. It was so peaceful. It was perfect”.

Excellent accommodation, delightful scenery, photographers paradise. Fantastic walks, animals to die for, and it you want to "get away from it all", this is the place for you!