Sunlight glitters on the white blanket of winter covering the land. A fire crackles softly in a grand rock fireplace. A log lodge sits perched upon a hill, its windows gazing out over the pasturelands below.
Somewhere below the trees, a horse exhales, warm air flowing from its velvet nose creating a frosty cloud in the crisp country morning. Despite the cold, ranchers mill about their daily chores, garbed in jeans, boots, thick jackets and warm hats. This life is early mornings and hot coffee; cold leather and spirited equines; peaceful routine and the wide blue sky.
Life on a ranch carries a sense of nostalgia when compared to the constant bustle of our complicated modern age, but it is anything but boring. This is exactly what guests get to experience when they take a break from their normal lives and step into the Old West adventure that is Western Pleasure Guest Ranch.
In fact, owners Janice and Roley Schoonover have been so successful at fostering this environment that they’ve received the award for Favorite Dude Ranch Hosts by Duderanch.com four years in a row. Located just 16 miles northeast of Sandpoint, Western Pleasure offers year-round immersive western experiences, replete with beautiful horses, breathtaking nature and good old-fashioned country fun.
On my visit to Western Pleasure, the first friendly face I encounter in the gorgeous Grand Lodge is Buster, one of the lovable ranch dogs and a staple member of the greeting committee. I immediately fall in love with the lodge’s homey yet elegant log wood architecture and notice how open the space feels, so unlike the crowdedness often felt in traditional log cabins.
The lodge’s great room is flooded with natural light from its many windows. And it features vaulted ceilings, a wagon wheel chandelier and walls tastefully decorated with mounted wildlife and art from local artists. As I’ve visited during a snowy February, the river rock fireplace in the corner boasts a flickering fire. The leather couches before it beckon me to curl up with a mug of hot coffee and a good book; to let time fade away as I lose myself in fantastic stories and the picturesque view of distant mountains out the windows.
I have the honor of being shown around by Janice, whose intimate knowledge of the ranch’s rich history paints every space and building with a more profound reverence. As she leads me from building to building, I learn her grandchildren mark the fifth generation to live on the land. In 1939, her grandparents Riley and Gladys Wood had visited the area from Colorado, and by the next year had moved here to raise their family and cattle.
It was Janice’s father, Jim Wood, who took the first steps toward building a guest ranch to be enjoyed by guests from all over. He purchased 960 acres from his father Riley in 1957, and in 1996, helped design and build what is now Western Pleasure’s Grand Lodge. Janice and Roley took over ranch operations in the 90s and gradually built it up from horseback riding lessons to the incredible country experience it is today.
Western Pleasure guests can choose their preferred flavor of the Wild West for their stay, starting with where they room. There are four cabins and six rooms in the Grand Lodge to choose from, all with their own theme. On the ground floor of the lodge, tucked away down the hall from the rec room, are the Grandma and Grandpa rooms, both of which have a cozy, rustic feel and quilts handmade by Janice’s grandmother.
The four rooms upstairs adjoining the lodge loft are the Duke, named for John Wayne and complete with gun-slinging cowboy artifacts; the Miss Belle, with its sophisticated female touch; the Siesta, with a southwestern desert flair; and the Nez Perce, complete with a handmade quilt and decor reflecting aspects of western Native American culture.
If guests are looking for more of a true getaway feel, there are four cabins tucked away among the trees just a short walk from the main lodge. The snow crunches under our boots as we walk over, and Janice gestures toward the forest north of the lodge, explaining they have about 6 miles of multi-purpose trails used for horseback rides, biking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and more.
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Each cabin sleeps six guests, and includes a kitchenette, eating space and freestanding wood stove. The Meadow View cabin is a bit different from its counterparts with its beautiful river rock fireplace, and includes an enviable view overlooking the fields where the horses graze. We step into the Settler cabin, which is the closest of the four to the Grand Lodge and has a warm country theme. Next to it is the Wrangler cabin, which sports a more traditional Old West theme. The Hunter cabin is appropriately named with its deer antler chandelier and wildlife mounts adorning the walls, and is located the farthest from the Grand Lodge.
In the lodge’s great room, three gourmet country meals are served a day, and dinners are often accompanied by live music. Young guests can find entertainment on the outdoor playground by the Grand Lodge, or on the main lawn where water games and campfires are held in the summertime. If guests need a break from the sun and elements, the rec room downstairs contains a pool table, foosball, and an array of family-friendly movie options to watch on the TV. Those staying in the lodge can also take advantage of the quiet space in the loft, which is where I can easily imagine myself in the mornings.
I’m impressed by the variety of housing options the Shoonovers offer their guests, but am even more so by the extensive list of activities they host. In the summer, ranch guests fill their days with horseback rides, mountain bike riding, horseshoes, archery, campfires, skeet, roping and basketball. Western Pleasure also offers summer packages for the ultimate getaway, such as whitewater rafting, Kootenai Riving fishing, a Kootenai River float, a ranch-spa combo, and dinner cruises on Lake Pend Oreille.
Janice explains that although their busiest months are June through September, they still keep plenty busy during the colder months. In the winter, they function as a bed and breakfast, host Christmas parties and group retreats, do old-fashioned sleigh rides, and often shuttle guests 45 minutes across the valley to Schweitzer Mountain Resort. She says they actually get a greater variety of guests during the winter season because groups will come out just for the day versus week-long vacations.
After exploring the main buildings, Janice and I head over to the indoor arena where her son Isaac is harnessing one of the draft horses to take us on a sleigh ride for the finale of my tour. Isaac and his wife Libby are both heavily involved in the ranch’s operations, as is Janice’s daughter Danielle and her family.
Western Pleasure’s honorary family members are their herd of about 68 horses, 11 of which are draft horses, and about 30 of which are guest-ridable.
Many of their horses were either born right here on the ranch or were purchased from nearby ranches. Janice and Isaac explain that they pick themes for the names of foals born around the same time, and laugh about how one such batch all received Marvel superhero names like the Hulk, Spider Man, Captain America and Wonder Woman.
As Janice and I approach the awaiting sleigh, I respectfully extend my hand in greeting to Major, the grey speckled Percheron draft horse who will be pulling our three-person sleigh today. He looks down at me intelligently, and I’m struck by just how massive this gentle giant is. Janice grabs a blanket, we load up in the sleigh, and then Isaac directs Major toward the trails just above the arena.
As we pass beneath the trees, the land seems frozen in time, mystically silent as the forest around us hibernates deeply. Major pulls us steadily along carved white paths, the jingle of bells on his harness and the muted drum of his crisp tread invading a revered past with the vibrant life of the present. Our voices, merely at the volume of casual conversation, feel almost cacophonous against the whispering chord of this winter wonderland.
There’s something about the sound of sleigh bells that always reminds me of the magic of winter scenes in movies such as in The Chronicles of Narnia, when the Pevensie children meet Father Christmas, or to the seasonal wistfulness of classic songs, like Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas.” The cold air on my bare face only intensifies this feeling of sleigh riding’s quintessentially winter essence; of its effortless ability to be perfectly romantic or whimsical, or both.
As incredible a vacation as Western Pleasure Guest Ranch is, what infuses it with that special touch of the unforgettable is the staff’s passion for the lifestyle, and the strength of family heritage woven into every facet. Janice loves getting to share her affection for the ranching world with others, and to witness the joy on their faces as they get to experience it for the first time.
I recognize the intrinsic beauty of this temporary disconnection from civilization as the sleigh carries us through the idyllic winter landscape. I’m touched with gratitude to the Shoonovers for sharing their home and lives with so many; for allowing their guests to step into the romanticized past, where we are reminded it’s often the simpler things in life that are most worthy of our precious time. N
By Abby Owens
Photography By Joel Riner
As Featured In: Winter/Spring 2021