Home on the Ranch
By Christalee Froese
Northern Horse Review - March, 2005

The hospitality, friendliness and warmth of this historic vacation ranch seeps through every crack and crevice, enveloping guests and leaving them with a feeling that is pure 'down-home' Alberta.

They were slightly squashed. Not bad, considering Dawn's freshly baked cinnamon buns had traveled part way across the country in my carry-on luggage.

It was a little unusual to be transporting such a delicacy in my briefcase, but what was even more unusual is the fact that the gooey buns were given to me by a woman I had met only two days before.

That's the way is is at the Homplace Ranch--a place where you are greeted by the fresh scent of baking as you walk in the door and a place where you leave with warm cinnamon buns in your bag.

"What we would like to have people leave with are two things -- feeling that they've been part of the ranch operations, and, secondly, to gain a greater appreciation for the horse," says Homeplace Ranch owner Mac MaKenny.

This working guest ranch, located 50 kilometers southwest of Calgary, near Priddis, was the brain child of MaKenny, an authentic Alberta cowboy, who comes from generations of settlement pioneers and horsemen. MaKenny keeps the tales of the west and the pioneer history of Alberta alive and well within the walls of the ranch lodge and cook-house. The lodge is adorned with true "wild-west" black-and-white photos featuring his parents, then there's the well-worn chaps his mother rode with some 80 years ago and the historic artifacts documenting the arduous adventures of homesteading in the prairies in the early 1900s.

MaKenny is a living history book, his stories told best in his own words.

"Mom met my Dad, Bill, when he came to Canada to hunt moose. He came back in 1935 and when he was preparing to return to Connecticut he kissed her and said, 'Ruby -- if you don't find anyone you like better than me, I'll be back next year (1936) to marry you.' He did. In 1946, after returning from five years in the US Navy's Seebees, dad, mom and myself, along with my aunt and uncle, moved to Jasper to go into the outfitting and summer trip business," recounts MaKenny. "With 80 head of horses, it was a boy's dream, one which never left me even when going to university and working to make enough money to start my own outfit. Every summer it was back to Jasper to help out. Finally, in 1978, the opportunity came available to start the Homeplace Ranch."

The ranch, established by MaKenny and operated by himself, his wife Jayne and young daughter Jessica is a place where history and horsemanship meet fact-to-face, giving visitors a real-life cowboy experience.

Visitors from all over the world come to this welcoming ranch to see the Rockies and to ride, but what they leave with is often an experience beyond what a brochure or website could hope to show. They also leave having become part of the Homeplace family -- one which is now thousands strong and growing.

The Homeplace family album is found in the lodge cook-house, where hundreds of photos of past visitors are displayed proudly over the entire span of the expansive kitchen wall. There are pictures of famous people on the wall, the likes of Lloyd Robertson and Craig Oliver, as well as industry moguls and duchesses. The pictures of these dignitaries have equal prominence and equal status alongside photos of first-time riders, families and, of course, the pictures of the horses.

The horses are a central part of this extended Homeplace family -- each room in the lodge being named after a horse and the horses being talked about as if they are sons and daughters in this family tree.

"Oh, Ike -- he's just hilarious," says Homeplace cook Dawn Albin, pointing to the photo of Ike when he was just a colt. "Just look at him, you can see it even there that he has quite a personality. You should meet him, he's just something else."

Dawn eagerly and enthusiastically tells stories of the people and horses that are part of the Homeplace family -- not stopping to consider that she, herself, is a story and is the ultimate example of what this ranch is all about.

This woman churns out up to 75 amazing home-cooked meals a day, complete with hand-kneaded bread and fresh-baked pie, but the true story lies in the fact that she was once a high-paid Toronto marketing executive who gave it all up for the life of a cowgirl and ranch cook.

"When I was in Toronto, there was a restlessness, like this isn't all there is. I'd tell myself, 'you make really good money, you have a big house, a summer house, nice vehicles,' but still I wasn't happy."

True happiness was finally secured two years ago, when Dawn came to the Homeplace Ranch for a 40th birthday vacation. She fell in love with the place and decided shortly after to give up all the luxuries of corporate living for a life of simplicity and horses here at the Homeplace Ranch.

"I'm renting a teeny, tiny little farm house, I'm working morning to night and I'm the happiest I've ever been," says Dawn, a glow of contentment in her eyes. "Some things just can't be explained. I just consider myself lucky to be part of this place. It's the whole thing I love -- the way the horses just wander around the property like they're part of the family, the wildlife and scenery here and Brad, he's a big part of why I fit in here so well."

Brad is the ranch's longtime lead hand, trail boss of 14 years, ride guide, guest instructor and horseman extraordinaire. He's a classic cowboy with the spirit and heart of a western pioneer.

"I'm here mostly because I enjoy the horses and the way they're taken care of here -- the horses, come first. We don't rush with them or get in a hurry -- we baby them. We don't holler and yell, we're patient and we insist that everyone who works with them treat the horses that way too," says Brad, who is an integral part of creating the ranch's authentic cowboy atmosphere. "Working here is not a job, it's a way of like and we're all like one big family -- even the guests. After a while of being here, you get to know that the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man."

Both Brad and Dawn say they have seen guests go through complete transformations after having spent a week at the ranch riding in the foothills of the Rockies, exploring nature and bonding with the horses.

"When people come here, they usually have left behind busy, fast-paced lives so they're in a hurry and rushing. But after a few days of being on the trails and being surrounded by the nature in this area, things start to change. Sometimes you wouldn't even know they're the same people," says Brad. "You can see them mellow out as they see that there's another side of life. The most amazing thing is to see the guests bond with the horses. Quite often when it's time to leave, the guest's eyes fill up with tears and they really don't want to leave. They become part of the family and that's hard to leave."

There's no place like home... and no place like the Homeplace Ranch.