The Misty Moors of Darthmoor, continued...
unusual markers on these moors were single tall posts. T ey are the last of what Spencer Allen, a former marine, called Rommel’s Asparagus.
To deter the German Luftwaff e from landing gliders or planes during World War II, the villagers “planted” these posts all over the top of the moors to prevent any landing strips. T ese posts are still standing and leaning into the wind 70 years later! We followed small paths and rode beside low stone walls, occasionally crossing a road, heading mid-day to a old pub, where we were told the peat fi re has burned for 200 years, never going out! T e distinctive smell was obvious before we spotted the whitewashed thatched cottage that defi nitely looked at least 200 years old. While some of us held the horses, watching the nearby sheep, some went in to get pints of the local beer. Wonderful and thirst-quenching. After six hours we were heading back down to the country lanes and the horses’ farm. We had trotted and galloped and walked for about 23 miles in a very large circular route. Robert Prior had met us midday with sandwiches and tea, which we ate on horseback, watching the wild ponies and the occasional sheep herd. It had been an awesome day, on windswept moors reminiscent of the Mongolian landscape I had ridden on two years ago. We were driven back to Bovey Castle for
massages, tea and a fi ve-star dinner by a world- class chef. My husband Michael had opted to go fl y-fi shing with a renowned local gilly, Adam Fox-Edwards of the Arundel Arms Hotel, and he was enthusiastically telling us about the brown trout and lovely secluded streams he had found.
The Falcon
T e next morning we mounted and headed off in another direction. We were going to meet a
local falconer and hopefully watch as he showed us his bird of prey. Because of the hunting ban in England the hunts are allowed to have hounds only when hunting with a bird of prey. T is is a very rough analogy of a complicated situation but we were to have the pleasure of watching a beautiful peregrine falcon. We met the falconer at noon, high on the
Barbara Smith with a falcon
top of the moor. T is was a testament to Elaine’s navigation and timing skills, which put seven riders at the exact meeting spot, at the appointed time, after riding ten miles across what looks like an unmarked open moor! T e falconer’s T oroughbred was completely unconcerned with the hooded predator on his rider’s arm as he galloped towards us. Our horses were not so sanguine, in fact almost all of them spooked a little and Matt, my young horse, was ready to go to the next county. T is was one of the fi rst times Elaine was trying to have a falconing showcase for her riders, and after a few attempts to accustom the horses to the peregrine falcon, we decided to take pictures of the falconer holding the falcon on his T oroughbred! He was looking for some ravens which he told us the young falcon would
dispatch at about 70 miles an hour. Perhaps luckily for our untested horses, we did not fi nd the aforementioned prey, but enjoyed listening to his hunting stories as he rode alongside. T e afternoon ended with a delicious and elegant picnic on the shores of a lovely lake. T e horses were to be vanned back to their home as we had ridden for hours in a straight line away from the start this day. We had seen similar rocky hilltops and tors in the distance as well as cantered through lovely high pastures and fragrant pine forests. T e picnic high note was the wonderful creme brulee, which was an unexpected treat. Elaine and Robert Prior of Liberty Trails had outdone themselves to make us feel welcomed and privileged to see their remote and wild part of England. Elaine had grown up on Dartmoor and after 20 years as an ad executive, she has realized her lifelong dream of riding here and sharing her love for the moors. T e Priors joined us and my Mongol Derby
veteran friends for dinner that night at Bovey Castle. We had many equine adventures to share and compare and we assured them that we had thoroughly enjoyed our Liberty Trails ride. Between us, we had ridden in countries from Africa to Mongolia and many others. We told them the horses were fi rst-rate and the countryside was as beautiful as promised. We invited them to come to foxhunt in America so we could reciprocate the hospitality and assured them we would highly recommend the riding vacation to our friends. It is a truly lovely part of England and the history and romance of the moor is unbeatable. We thanked them and promised to return. T e next day we were going separate ways to sightsee but we all thought our ride had been fantastic.
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