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Gliding across the snow Photo by Bob Pennell Suellen Ireland holds the reins as Waylon and Willie pull the Box R Ranch sleigh. Along for the shakedown cruise are, left to right, Don Rowlett, Julie Rowlett, Jean Rowlett and Jenna Randall. Sleigh ride is an old-timey treat By PAUL FATTIG GREENSPRINGS -- The clop-clop of Willie and Waylon, a matched pair of Belgian horses named for country western singers, keeps time with the jingling sleigh bells. Atop the green and red sleigh, driver Suellen Ireland orchestrates the soothing sound, her firm hands steady at the reins holding back her one-ton charges. "They just love getting out," she said. "But it's easier for them when they are out in the meadow. The sleigh just slides along out there." The Greensprings Box R Ranch employee took the horses out for a short jaunt along a gravel road on the 1,500-acre spread on Christmas Eve. The road had a 3-inch frosting of powdery snow so dry it squeaked when walked upon. The rides in the huge meadow are saved for days of deeper snow. "It'll be deep snow tomorrow," predicted Don Rowlett, a passenger and, along with his wife, Jean, owner of the ranch. The first sleigh ride of the year at the guest ranch was intended to break in the driver and the horses. It also afforded the Rowletts, grown daughter Julie Rowlett and niece Jenna Randall, 12, a chance to enjoy the scenery. "Gliding across the snow in a sleigh with those powerful horses creates a feeling you really can't get any other way," Don Rowlett observed. "You are out there in nature doing what things our forefathers did a long time ago. They had to do it to survive and get around. It really puts you back in that time period." Back to a time when pioneers on the Applegate Trail rested to graze their stock nearly 150 years ago near where the two-story ranch house now sits on the edge of Round Prairie. The ranch house, looking like part of a scene out of a Currier and Ives lithograph, was built shortly after the turn of the century. Rowlett, 68, knows about the fast-paced life of today. After starting as a janitor in Woolworths, he worked his way up to an executive position before launching a discount clothing store chain in 1982. With Rowlett serving as president and chief executive officer, Ross Dress For Less grew to 140 stores doing $600 million a year. After five years, he sold out and moved to the ranch he had purchased in 1969 as a vacation retreat for his wife and four children. In addition to the ranch, he farms potatoes and hay on farmland they own in the Klamath Basin. The ranch about 23 miles east of Ashland draws more than 3,000 visitors a year who ride wagons, hike, fish, hobnob with farm animals or just experience a part of the historic Old West. There are also three guest cabins on the ranch. But when the snow flies, the Rowletts brush off the horses, who have hooves the size of pie plates. And they break out the antique sleigh they purchased in the historic town of Shaniko in north central Oregon. Although the passenger compartment has been rebuilt, the running gear is original. Being able to return to simple technology is one of the things that draws Julie Rowlett back to the ranch during the holidays. One of four Rowlett children, she had just arrived from Paris, where she is pursuing a graduate degree. She owns several coffee houses. "What I love about this is the low technology," she said as she held Ella, a shivering whippet wrapped in a warm blanket. Ella also hails from Paris. "Our lives are getting so far advanced in technology," she added. "I like to step back now and then." Although she was reared in Hawaii and San Francisco, the ranch is home, where she is reunited with family members. "I love the fresh air, the peace -- it's so peaceful," she said. "But what really gets to me is the grandeur. ... This is what the French think of when they think of America." It's what Jenna Randall thinks of as just plain fun. "It's cold but I love it," she said as her cheeks glowed like embers. "It's fun." With the ranch at about 3,800 feet above sea level, snow is often a guest during the deep winter months. "When we get snow, the phone always starts jumping off the hook," Don Rowlett said. "But we can't handle a whole lot of people, maybe five to six rides a day." The cost is $10 for adults and $5 each for children. The ranch number is 482-1873. "We try to provide sleigh rides as long as the snow is here," he said. "It's part of the Old West that we want to see continue. "When you get enough snow, the runners just glide along," he added. "It's like you are a silent witness to everything when you go out through there. It makes you feel good. There's nothing quite like it." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA