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Scott Valley Resort & Guest Ranch,
Mountain Home, Arkansas

"Our main objective is to encourage families to get reacquainted," stated Kathleen Cooper, owner of the Scott Valley Ranch for over fifteen years.

Families were definitely in the majority during the week in June when my husband, Doug, and I visited the ranch – parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, and a couple of three-generation families. Melba and John Harrington from Missouri brought their 12-year-old grandson, Zachary, who loved to horseback ride. Jayne and Richard Donahue from Illinois came with their three children and two grandchildren. Many parents remember the fun they had when their parents brought them to the ranch on vacations so now they're bringing their own children. If you prefer a less boisterous, more peaceful vacation, come in the spring or fall when children are in school and the ranch offers Adults Only weeks.

Scott Valley, a 640-acre ranch, is located near Mountain Home, Arkansas, in the famous Ozarks surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery. We drove up the long drive and past a large totem pole of red oak, carved in memory of Tom Cooper, Kathleen's husband and partner who passed away five years ago.

Checking in at the office/gift shop, we met Kathleen's latest "rescue" – a tiny, 3-week-old, abandoned kitten. Known for her soft heart toward any defenseless creature, Kathleen has even helped box turtles trying to cross a road.

After going to our room and unpacking, we wandered down to the barn and paddocks to check out the horses. There were several other guests already patting and giving handfuls of grass to the horses who eagerly stretched their heads out between the fence rails.

We learned that the most popular activity at the ranch is horseback riding, and everyone is guaranteed a minimum of two rides a day. Many have never ridden until they came to the ranch. Patient guides and helpers get them mounted, adjust their stirrups, show them how to hold the reins and give them riding tips – "Lean forward a little when going uphill," "Heels down," "Sit up straight." The herd of approximately 70 horses are mostly Missouri Fox Trotter crosses, very quiet and easy to ride.

"I raised most of them," Kathleen said, "because I need a reliable horse, one with a nice disposition and good conformation so they can put up with beginners yet be able to navigate these rocky trails." Kathleen encourages everyone to interact with the horses whether they are riding or not, by grooming and petting them. They offer beginner and advanced riding lessons, but the favorite is trail riding. "We've even had Girl Scouts working on their equestrian badge," she added.

Jodi DeDecker is the resident trainer and guests can watch her work with new horses or imprint the yearly crop of foals. At Scott Valley, they use horse psychology and believe in non-resistance training.

The accommodations are basic and range from single rooms for a couple to family units for groups. There are no televisions or phones in the rooms to encourage families to fish and ride together or just spend time sitting around and talking to each other. All meals are included and served buffet style with a hearty breakfast beginning each day.

A swimming area has a good-sized pool and a large hot tub with water cascading over rocks and down a waterfall. They both see a lot of use from children and adults alike. Other activities include volleyball, badminton, shuffleboard and tennis. There's a petting zoo, playground, recreation room with ping pong and pool tables, a fitness room and a TV lounge.

There are a variety of other attractions near the ranch. While I was riding Morning Glory, a smooth, easy-to-ride, chestnut fox trotter, Doug went off to play golf. If you have time, there are the Blanchard Springs Caverns, the Ozark Folk Center, Lake Norfolk for a variety of water sports, and the White River for world-class trout fishing.

We went canoeing on the famous White River and North Fork River, and Kathleen gave us sodas and bag lunches so we could picnic along the way. Not white water with rapids, our trip downstream was very relaxing with beautiful scenery – high rock cliffs towering above us, open fields with wild flowers, and dark green woods where we saw a doe emerge to take a drink. We spied several brown trout dozing in the shade of an overhanging rock or lazily swimming out of the way of our canoe and paddles, and numerous herons fishing at the river's edge or gliding overhead.

The nightly entertainment ranges from karioke to horse-drawn wagon rides. Barney and Bud, two large, chestnut Belgian draft horses with flaxen manes and tails pull a wagon full of chattering adults and laughing children on short excursions around the ranch.

Dinner might be a cookout, a buffet in the homey, knick-knack-decorated dining hall, or out on Norfolk Lake with two pontoons tied together. Our lake dinner was one of the ranch's typical home-cooked meals of roast pork, potatoes au gratin, baked beans, vegetables, jello and delicious banana cream pie.

Afterwards, a couple of the men fished off the front of the pontoons while several children swam and dove off the back. Laughter and screams of delight echoed across the water as the sun slowly sank behind the tops of the evergreens surrounding the lake.

"Half the fun in coming here is meeting the other people," Kathleen said, adding that most of the guests are from nearby states – Texas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri – but more are coming from California and back East each year.

Offering affordable, family-oriented vacations, the ranch has been listed three times in FAMILY CIRCLE MAGAZINE's Resorts of the Year. The Scott Valley Ranch motto – "Building memories to last a lifetime!"

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4799 Lower Mountain Road, New Hope, PA 18938
Tel: (215) 794-5878 • Fax: (215) 794-5878
E-mail: info@horseclassics.com
Web: www.horseclassics.com

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