A few of us went horseback riding today. The folks at Tom Wesley in Bariloche run a smooth, professional operation.
The gauchos leading the tours have sun-beaten faces, are draped in their ponchos to keep out the winter cold, and always have their Yerba mate drinks to hand. Their horses are impeccable—well cared for, clean, and healthy. And the ride took us through both forest and mountain tracks, with a mixture of trotting and cantering.
I asked Marcelo, our guide, how long he’d been working for the outfit.
With a wry smile he replied, “A lifetime.”
He then went on to describe his forty years helping people meet horses and explore Patagonia. But what I liked most was his unit of measurement. In two words he described decades worth of work, and thousands of hours of commitment.
It’s rare to find such levels of consistency, but there’s a different gravitas and oomph when we do.