Exclude first 2 rows of .dat file when using load

I want to exclude the first two rows when using load

data = load('file.dat')
x = data(3:end,1);
y = data(3:end,2);

The one below obviously gives me a ASCII file error. But you get the idea of what I want.

Answer 1

[madhan ravi]

convert your .dat to .txt and then follow your method

[Marisabel Gonzalez]

by any change is a command that does that or I have to do it manually?