You’re not going to be checking into the Holiday Inn out here. You’re going into the back country on a pack trip with guides that will be responsible for your safety and enjoyment, providing you with a solid mount, good meals, and a great itinerary. You’ll be with your guides, or close to them, the entire time you’re out there. Bottom line: choose wisely! Don’t take this choice lightly.I know just a few other outfitters, and they are great folks, but each one is real different, and if I had to spend a week with one, I’d want to think about who I’d enjoy and get along with most. I think the nature of outfitters is that they really do care about their horses and have good ones, and they really like people – that’s why they chose this profession. But they are all so different, personality wise and specialty wise. I’m sure there are a few bad eggs out there, but I’d bet that’s the exception, not the rule.
Choosing an outfitter is an extremely personal choice, and I think anyone considering taking a pack trip with a guide should consider it as such. It’s not like you’re checking into that hotel where the owners don’t matter so much, and once you get your room assignment, you’ll never see them again. No, on your pack trip, you’ll be spending all your waking hours with your guides, and in a rather intimate setting. You can’t get away from them, and you are trusting them with your life, your money, and your precious vacation time. You better get to know them a little ahead of time, and you really should like them.
I think it was different back in the day, when the outfitters clients were mostly men, all knew a little bit about horses, and usually had some experience riding, packing and in the back country. They came to hunt and fish and getting dirty and “western” was OK. Ending up on the ground was not unusual; wreck were not uncommon. The old way was put a “dude” on a horse, instruct the rider to kick hard to make the horse go, then slap the horse on the rear to get him going. No surprise all the wrecks, right? There’s been a positive evolution in guides, dude horses, and the manner in which guests/riders are treated. I think you’ll find the guests, the guides, and the horses are all pleased with the more positive approaches to horsemanship being both taught and practiced. Some of the most solid (body and mind), well mannered, well treated, well respected horses I know belong to outfitters. It only makes sense. Horses are our partners out here. We live with them, we work with them, we care about them.
But back to picking an outfitter: Here’s a good example of what to do. We have a group of neat women who rode with us two years in a row. We met one of them years before out on the trail, and she watched our business for a couple years before booking a trip. Last year we could not take them, and they went with an outfitter out of Montana. They had a great trip. They took the time to interview their outfitters ahead of time – actually went out there and did a day ride with them. We have had folks come here and do that with us before a pack trip as well. It’s a terrific idea – that way you get to know the outfitters, see them at work, meet their horses, and decide if you would enjoy spending a few days out there with them.
But I know this is not always possible or practical. I think the next best option would be a lot of contact – by phone, by e-mail, whatever – to get to know the guide that way. And then get a list of recommendations or referrals, and actually take the time to contact folks who have done a trip with the outfitter in the past.
Remember, not every outfitter is for every interested person. As I said before, it’s really personal. Some focus more on hunters, on male clients, on roughing it; others more on luxury trips, making their guests feel so comfortable they never even feel the ground; and lots of ways in between. Find out what your outfitter specializes in, what they believe in, and what they enjoy sharing with their guests.
There are plenty of outfitters out there. If I could make one suggestion here, it’s to recommend you consider the factors that will make or break your trip will be more about the person you’re asking to guide your trip, than where you’re taking the trip. There is beauty all around us. You probably can’t go wrong there. You can go wrong if you don’t like your guide. It’s a personal choice. Take the time to make it wisely.
Posts
