The guide’s incompetence forced brutal physical struggle on the horses and riders

Evidence

It was getting dusk as we had to struggle up the rough gulch we had so fatuously descended. The horses fell several times; I could hardly get mine up at all, though I helped him as much as I could; I was cut and bruised, scratched and torn. A spine of a cactus penetrated my foot, and some vicious thing cut the back of my neck. Poor Mrs. C. was much bruised, and I pitied her, for she got no fun out of it as I did. It was an awful climb. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 176

Categorization

• CANDY: The line that a cactus spine and scratches give her no pain while her companion gets no fun out of it is a charming snapshot of the author’s temperament.

Related

• Exhaustion can turn a triumphant exploit into a humiliating collapse (similarity 0.81)
• She reached sublime summits only through terror and brute assistance, not skill (similarity 0.78)