Query re Riding Holiday in Scotland

[still standing]

Hope I'm posting this in the correct place! A couple of friends and myself would like to go on a short riding holiday in Northern Scotland next year and were looking at a 'Highlands Unbridled' ride as a possibility. But I've had no reply to emails asking when their 2019 catalogue will be online, for dates etc. Not can I find a review later than 2015. Can anyone on here please tell me if they are still in business? TIA

 

[PaulineW]

I believe they are, only because there was a huge Facebook discussion about them just the other day. People are unhappy with the treatment of the horses, and were posting evidence to show saddle sores, etc. I don't know them personally, but it was interesting, sad, reading.

 

[Kat_Bath]

They lost their long distance rides licence a couple of years ago and the contents of the article made for a bit of uncomfortable reading: https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/new...ntre-loses-licence-long-distance-rides-606638

There are recent reviews on TripAdvisor.

 

[PaulineW]

This is on a public page so ok to share - https://www.facebook.com/groups/295...al_surface=direct_link&availability=available

 

[still standing]

Thanks for the info above and the links - makes for uncomfortable reading indeed. I couldn't find anything recent on Trip Advisor, didn't think of checking Facebook. I see their licence seems to be up for renewal in December, perhaps that explains why they have not got a 2019 catalogue out yet as they may be waiting. Friends and myself have been on other riding holidays, abroad, and have so far found horse welfare to be excellent so I don't like to read of saddle sores, etc in a Scottish centre.

 

[Kat_Bath]

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attra..._Centre-Tain_Ross_and_Cromarty_Scottish_.html

I guess, in a way, it's good that they're being monitored... I don't know if Janine does holidays as such but I can recommend Fresians Scotland if you fancy that. To ride a native Highland in the Highlands would be nice though (although I don't think they use only Highlands). There's also Blackstone Clydesdales - again I don't think they do holiday holidays and I can't personally recommend (yet) but they look good. I've also got my eye on http://www.wilderways.scot

I hope you find somewhere!

 

[still standing]

Kat_Bath, thanks for that last link to Tripadvisor, which I fully opened and read lots of the most recent feedbacks. It does give a lot of positive recent reviews, which now paints a more balanced picture. However, we definitely need to do a lot more research and checking before booking our next riding holiday! I hadn't heard about Fresians Scotland or that wilderways website, so we can look at those thanks. The Clydesdales, though I'm sure it's exciting, are just not for us though.

 

[asmp]

I spent the last week touring the Highlands on holiday (in a car, not a horse!). I picked up a leaflet that had details of a 5 day trail ride for my daughter. Details are www.highlandhorsefun.com

No idea if any good - perhaps someone has been on one?

 

[still standing]

Thanks, asmp. Had a look at that link but the centre is based in Kingussie/Newtonmore area in the Central Highlands and we were really hoping to go further North or North-West, to experience the more remote areas if possible.

 

[Kat_Bath]

Clydesdales aren't for everyone and that's OK!

Just having a quick look o line and I've found the following:

http://www.lochnessriding.co.uk
https://www.hollingwells.co.uk
https://www.highlandponytrekking.com

All of them have good reviews on TripAdvisor.

 

[still standing]

Oh, that's super - thank you so much. PLENTY more there to have a look at.... great!

 

[holeymoley]

Has anyone read the story of the business owner of Highlands Unbridled? I read both accounts of her and the accusations made and have came up with my own opinion of it all. I'm not sure if i believe everything they've been accused of. It seems to be done by someone with a bit of spite. If that's the case it's a shame for a business to go downhill in such a way.

ETA- I don't know them at all, not even sure of their exact location, i believe Inverness-way.

 

[still standing]

holeymoley, I did notice that the most recent Trip Advisor reviews were much more positive than the earlier ones and tended to balance the very negative reports somewhat.
But the reason for my OP was that although I had emailed to both addresses given on their website, I had not received a reply and wondered if they were still in business. I've still not received a reply to date although the answers on here imply that they are still in business. So quite apart from the TripAdvisor and Facebook comments, positive and negative, I think it's not very professional to not reply to emails or even have some kind of automatic answer reply service if they are away and that is a concern.

 

[holeymoley]

holeymoley, I did notice that the most recent Trip Advisor reviews were much more positive than the earlier ones and tended to balance the very negative reports somewhat.
But the reason for my OP was that although I had emailed to both addresses given on their website, I had not received a reply and wondered if they were still in business. I've still not received a reply to date although the answers on here imply that they are still in business. So quite apart from the TripAdvisor and Facebook comments, positive and negative, I think it's not very professional to not reply to emails or even have some kind of automatic answer reply service if they are away and that is a concern.

Definitely agree with you on that part- just common courtesy.

 

[friskimagic]

Im Highlands Unbridleds neighbour. The centre went to committee last week and were granted a years licence but cant trade until it is issued due to a long list of conditions that have to be met first. The recent vets report is not good. Unqualified staff from abroad and 33 horses kept on approx 5/6 acres of poached land. The list is endless so complaints have not been done through spite. Vets report paints a very true picture of what is/has been going on there. The vet has stated back in November it was a priority to move the horses to a larger area of grazing but from today 26/01/2019 they remain on 5/6 acres of mud. Towards the end of the trail season last year a vet checked the horses and all were found to have saddle sores once again and/or lameness. What i dont understand is how a rider can tack a horses back up with sores, ride over tough terrain then leave good feedback on Trip advisor. To date the licence still hasnt been issued due to lack of grazing, planning issues and a whole list of conditions that havent been met yet yet the owner has issued dates and prices on her website. Anyone wanting to book with Highlands Unbridled should take a step back and wait till they find out for sure that the licence has been issued and conditions have been met and/or improved first, otherwise they may well end up out of pocket

 

[still standing]

Update: I did get an email from Jan at Highlands Unbridled last week, apologising for the delay in replying to my enquiry and explaining that they had to wait for their new licence before advertising the 2019 holidays.
In the meantime, we had read lots about other Highland holidays, including the links that people on here had posted, which were very helpful - but we decided to wait and find out more about the Highlands Unbridled situation as we wanted particularly to do one of their trail rides. When we thought about the delay in hearing back from them (still surprised about that), we realised they were probably waiting for their licence renewal, which did turn out to be the case.
We also realised that there was a lot of positive feedback from recent clients but some rather negative talk going on, seemingly originating locally and only at second hand. So I contacted some of the recent clients through Trip Advisor and all the positive feedback was confirmed. So we decided to ignore the negatives and make up our own minds. We have looked at the new 2019 programme and still very much like the sound of the type of holiday they offer. Thanks to all on here for links and information.

 

[MagicMelon]

I read all about this company at the time (and since), I personally would not touch them with a bargepole. Why would you when there are other far better ones around? There's lots of trekking centres in amazing scenery where you could do a different route every day making it into a holiday?

 

[still standing]

Magic Melon, we were particularly looking for a trail ride rather than just staying in one place. We do a lot of TREC and are used to going out on different routes for a few hours' riding, so we wanted something different. Last year we went on a 5-day trail riding holiday (Iceland - Northern Exposure) and absolutely loved travelling with our horses through the wilderness, so we wanted to try and repeat that type of experience.