Will anyone take this on (or another AIBU!)

[Ratface]

Well, that would rule me out, then! I've been riding all sorts of (usually) sharp, spooky, opinionated TBs and Arabs for the last 75+ years, but I know my own limitations now and my own daft Arab very well - I can sense a sharp paraglide from the tiniest movement of his ears!
I wouldn't want to ride anything else at the moment, unless I had a reasonable knowledge of the horse being presented to me.

 

[Goldenstar]

The transition from English to western is extremely easy at least we found it so , I rode a little shorter in the stirrup than they wanted me to for the first day and then I put them longer.
The transition the other way however is not so easy for many western riding was developed in part so people who could not ride at all could get on a horse and travel.
In trekking centres in the US you will see some very uncomfortable sights (I have also seen those )in the UK) but those riders on an English saddle and it would be dangerous .
I have ridden a few time in the US when I was younger one memorable occasion we where handed two horses told to look for the blue markers and sent away on our own for three hours in a very dense wood , it was good fun but I remember thinking no one would get away with that in the Uk .

 

[Glitter's fun]

Thank you for all the interesting and very enlightening posts.
I understand now how difficulty with staffing levels would make it impossible to run a conventional mixed-abilities trekking model.
I agree that a rewording would make the website sound a lot less unwelcoming and cross!
I still won't be going. I'm firmly in the "got enough challenges at home thank you, I want to be able to concentrate on the view" camp but I'm very pleased that so many people would fancy giving it a go. I do hope they make a success of it.

 

[eahotson]

I’ve read through the post a few times and I think have come to the conclusion that it is just very badly worded. That said it sounds like the rides previously were a mix of experience levels and riding styles which was never going to work. In my limited experience of riding abroad at similar set ups, we had to fill in a form on riding experience and expectations and then had a short trial on our potential horse when we got the yard and before going out in the open. Rides were then generally run in groups of more experienced and a novice group, however this does require more staff members so maybe their point is genuine.

Anyway I’ve rewritten the post, from a marketing and equestrian perspective:
Exciting news! We are making a number of changes at […].

After many successful years running rides across our beautiful Scottish countryside we have decided to focus on offering rides to the more experienced rider looking for an adventurous experience, off the beaten track.

We have a great selection of well schooled, forward thinking horses for you to enjoy. Rides will include include varied terrain tackled at all paces. We offer different lengths of rides ranging from 2-3 hours.

Our adventure rides will be best enjoyed by experienced, balanced riders with an independent seat, happy riding new horses over challenging country.

Unfortunately this does mean that our popular all ability rides will be coming to an end. We have struggled to fill staff positions and this has led to us making the difficult decision to run the adventure rides only.

We look forward to you joining us on our new journey and meeting faces old and new in the coming months. For any questions about our unique adventure rides please do get in touch at XXX.

Please note all tack is English and therefore riders that have not ridden in this style will have a short assessment before the ride. Regrettably due to the nature of these rides we cannot accommodate children under 14.

That does sound a lot better.

 

[Jambarissa]

Does this centre have a high turnover of horses?

I know of a few riding schools that are really breaking and schooling facilities using paying clients to do most of the work.