They can give advice on horsemanship, local history and points of interest. You should have a good time and be entertained. Guides are usually tipped for extra services such as taking children on rides without their parents, entertaining their customers and giving pointers on riding. A good guide knows the personality of each horse. Horses have their own buddies and can take dislike to another horse.
Horses have a definite pecking order with a boss horse and varying degrees of submissiveness.
The guide should know the bully, the mellow and the timid horses, and correctly line them up for the ride. These horses are trained to handle, the hazards of the trail. Most dude string horses have a sound disposition and are relatively free from vices. However, some dude horses have distinct personalities and know many techniques to avoid work. They can get bored with the hourly routine, their attention span lags and they look for something to liven up the ride, such as biting the horse ahead of them when no one is looking.