An urban cowboy in Canada

SCOTT MacLEOD saddles up in south-western Canada and is soon humbled.


It was on our second day in Canada when I ripped the crotch out of my jeans and knew to my horror that I was going to get ribbed for the next week.

It was then I learned that to enjoy the many tourist ranches of south-west Canada you should pack at least two pairs of pants.

At least I had a good reason for ripping the jeans. It happened in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains while I clung grimly to the back of a horse as it snorted and jumped and lurched through a stand of pinetrees.

It was at a ranch called the Bar C Adventure Resort in Cochrane, Alberta, "where cowboys, Indians and wildlife meet in the great outdoors," that I saddled up for the first time.

Bar C, a cattle ranch since 1904, has moved into the lucrative tourist trade, offering gold panning, wilderness rides, Wild West meals, a Sioux tepee village and Western-style cabins.

Rodeo rider and wrangler Ramon Plante, whose job is to break-in horses and round up cattle, was to be our guide on a one-hour prairie ride which, to a first-timer, was exhilarating and scary. The riding was fairly easy, but for this balding reporter - with an exposed crotch and a loose saddle that had a propensity for slipping under the horse - the going was rough on the slopes.

Riding can take it out of a bloke, so it was with some anticipation that we returned to the ranch and hooked into some tucker at the Black Bear Inn. This is where they play both types of music - country and western.

The Bar C was a pretty cool place and my strategy of walking around with my legs clenched together for the next few days paid off with no one spotting the rip.

This lasted until we reached the highlight of our tour, the biggest and oldest tourist ranch in British Columbia, the 16,000ha Flying U.

Owner John Fremlin, sporting a Wyatt Earp-style moustache, said in a gravelly voice: "Some people ask me if I grew up around here and I always say 'no, I'm still growing up around here."'

The Flying U, founded in 1849, is a two-hour drive north-west of Kamloops. In 1924 it was the site of one of the first movies - Policing the Plains - shot in Canada.

The ranch is almost like a miniature Wild West town, with its ancient Longhorn Saloon and rows of rustic cabins. Guests can go squaredancing, hiking, canoeing, dog-sledding, ice-fishing and sleighriding and there's an amazing Western museum.

But once again the best bit was the horse trekking and here the beast is matched to riding ability. I watched as my more able colleagues were given horses with names like Daisy and Buttermilk.

Mine was called Bandit. Guides reckon that reins are like a hand-brake, and pulling them makes a horse stop.

But Bandit would have none of it. When our guide belted across a grassy paddock, so did good ol' Bandit. I found myself thundering across the Caribou Plains beside an equally inexperienced colleague. We both heaved on the reins but all this did was make the horses' heads pop up so they could barely see where they were going. This was also the moment when my riding partner spotted my torn jeans - and the jibes began.

Putting aside my embarrassment, the Flying U and Bar C give a good taste of Canada's outback history. But the best way to get the flavour of old villages is to go to Fort Steele, in the shadow of the British Columbian Rockies.

After gold was found in Wild Horse Creek in 1864, prospectors flocked to the town. Few earned as much as John Galbraith, who built a ferry for crossing the nearby river and charged a day's wage for each trip.

The town sports 60 restored shops, homes and theatres. Tourists can heckle old-time politicians, testify at a trial, pack a mule, or go to the Victorian-style International Restaurant for dinner followed by a musical comedy at the Wild Horse Theatre.

After trekking about all those historic towns and ranches a traveller is likely to get weary. A good place to recuperate is The Hills Health Ranch, a quiet retreat on Highway 97. It's a favourite hideaway for many famous people and offers skiing, mountain biking, hiking, snow-tubing, ice-skating and lots of pampering.

The Hills was a sparkling end to the south-west tour and there's no doubt that the keen Kiwi traveller will find these ranches jolly good fun.

Just remember to pack more than one pair of jeans.

* Scott MacLeod travelled courtesy of the Canadian Tourism Commission, Air New Zealand and Canadian Airlines.