I picked it up again after setting it down for months and noticed how the terrain actually changes underfoot when you're hauling back a load of thatch.
Most of the first twenty minutes went to inching toward a parasaur with a handful of mejoberries while the taming bar crept up one percent at a time and nothing else moved.
The real limit is how little the game gives you to do once the approach starts, so you end up watching the same slow meter more than you'd like.
In ARK: Survival Ascended the later breeding work probably changes the pace, though the early hours still feel thinner than they need to be.