Equitrekking

No, my friend Stuart is not an "Equitrekker."  As far as I know, he has never even been on a horse, which I hear are very rare on the North Side of Chicago.  They are pretty rare on the South Side of Chicago, where I am from, too.  I just am using the photograph because it has a horse (not to mention Stuart) in it, and seems appropriate to today's topic, which is the PBS (Public Television System) television show Equitrekking.  I usually don't watch that program, but the other night it featured Colorado, and so I was hooked.  It took place on a working ranch in the northeast part of the state, as well as on a tourist oriented "dude ranch" in the southwest part of the state near Durango.  On the working ranch, people actually pay to work there, mending fences,doing other repairs, herding cows, etc.  In other words, it is the Tom Sawyer story all over again, except that Tom Sawyer didn't get paid - just got people to do his work - while the ranch brings in big bucks from the tourists.  What is the deal with that?  The only benefit is that the tourist gets to ride a horsey, which might - or might not - be a positive thing.  I wish I could get people to pay me to let them do my job.  I just don't know how to make bookkeeping sound that much fun.