Luxurious Hideout Ranch In Shell, Wyoming, Lists For $14.95 Million

For the last 20 years, the Hideout Lodge & Guest Ranch has been quietly famous in Shell, Wyoming. So quiet, that even people who live in the area and drive by it every day don’t necessarily realize that there’s an international tourism magnet nestled behind the trees, which shelter this ranch from casual view.

That was the case for real estate broker Neil Bangs, who told Cowboy State Daily he’d been driving past the ranch every day for years, not knowing that it annually attracts 650 or so guests from around the world every summer season, many of them repeat guests, who come for an authentic Western escape that marries stunning views and expert horsemanship training with epic riding adventures and one-of-a-kind hospitality.

“It’s just world-renowned, with the people it attracts, and you would never know it,” Bangs said. “I’ve driven past that place for years and had no idea, until we got involved.”

Bangs is the managing broker for the Wyoming division of Fay Ranches. He and ranch broker J.W. Robinson have just listed the 266-acre Hideout Ranch for $14.95 million. 

The turnkey guest ranch includes everything the new owner would need to continue the operation as is, Robinson told Cowboy State Daily, even the herd of 65 well-trained, all-American mustangs.

“They have multiple cabins where they can basically house 25 guests a week, plus have housing for their staff members,” Robinson said. “There’s a beautiful lodge that’s over 6,000 square feet with game rooms and bars and kitchens and all the unique things where people like to go hang out at night or in the morning for breakfast.”

The equestrian center is huge, Robinson added, and there’s a spacious indoor barn, exterior riding arena and pens, as well as other amenities like the 16’x80’ inground swimming pool. 

“The buildings are not just beautiful rural log facilities,” Robinson added. “They’re extremely well-maintained and cared for.”

The business is also highly profitable, Robinson said. All of those details are available to qualified buyers to inspect.

From Brussels To Shell, Wyoming 

The Hideout Ranch has been featured in Gene Kilgore’s Top 50 Ranches, and Equitrekking’s top 20 Ranches. It’s also been praised by outlets ranging from the New York Times to Globe Trotting, along with many other accolades.

But the ranch is also tied to some legendary Wyoming history as well. 

“This ranch was originally part of the Trapper Creek Guest Ranch, which dates back to 1899,” Robinson said. “Roosevelt, Hemingway, they were some of the famous guests staying at Trapper Creek.”

Trapper Creek itself isn’t coming with the Hideout, but that’s the kind of history that the Hideout Ranch has long been party to, Robinson said.

Pete De Cabooter and his wife Marijn Werquin are the owners of both The Hideout and Trapper Creek Ranch. The couple came to Wyoming from Belgium about 20 years ago, to help an aunt manage the property.

“She moved to the U.S. when I was 22, and I’m really close to her,” Peter told Cowboy State Daily. “And I love horses, so we would come (to Wyoming) on vacation.”

Peter’s aunt and her husband decided to build the Hideout in 1995, but it proved to be a lot of work. That had her eventually asking Peter in 2006 if he wanted to come and help manage the guest ranch.

“I was working in a global position in corporate America,” Peter said. “And we were still living in Belgium at the time, so I said, ‘Yeah, I can do it for —‘  I was in for a career change, so I said, ‘Yeah I can do it for three years or something.’”

His wife Marijn, however, wasn’t thrilled with this idea at all.

“My wife says, ‘Well, you just go to Wyoming, because I’m not going to move from Brussels. I’m staying in Brussels.’ We also had twin boys, who were 13 at the time, so moving at that age and moving to a new country is also difficult.”

At first, Peter commuted back and forth between Wyoming and Belgium, but eventually, his wife relented and decided the family should all move to Shell.

“Belgium is very green, it rains a lot,” Marijn said. “Cities are very close by. Like for me, I couldn’t envision living in Wyoming, where the emptiness and the vastness is so big.”

But ultimately, keeping the family together and strong won out, as she could see her husband wasn’t going to backtrack on helping his aunt.

“Four weeks there, three weeks in Brussels — that made me realize it’s not a life for a family,” she said. “So, I decided if he really wants to do that, the family needs to stay together, so I’ll move.”

Liberty Training For Horses And Their People

One of the things that the Hideout Ranch has become well-known for is Marijn’s Liberty Training, which involves riding and working with horses without any tack. No ropes, no halters, no whips. 

The technique builds a stronger, safer bond between horse and rider, Marijn believes.

“Liberty is when you can play with horses and your connection is so strong that the horse looks at you as the leader of the little herd of two or three,” she said. “And so, the human is the leader, and, with body communication, you can make your horse walk with you, run with you, circle around you, jump over something, go on a pedestal.”

One of the most well-known practitioners of Liberty Training is Lorenzo the Flying Frenchman.

“He can do it with 10 horses at the same time,” Marijn said.

Marijn learned about the technique from a guest at the Hideout and decided it was the most incredible and beautiful thing she’d ever seen and that she had to learn it.

When her husband asked her what she wanted for her 50th birthday, that was it. Liberty Training. That led to private lessons with Amy Bowers, who is the niece of well-known horse trainer Pat Parelli, as well as private clinics in Cody. 

Marijn wasn’t always, however, an expert horsewoman. It was one of many things that grew on her after she came to Wyoming.

“I was so lonely here at first,” she said. “I’d been a flight attendant in my previous life, so Peter kind of put me in the office. But that’s nothing for me.”

The following January, she’d bought an 18-year-old horse, mainly so she could go on trail rides with the guests a few times a week.

“Just to see people,” Marijn said. “And that 18-year-old horse gave me confidence. The next year, I rode three days a week and I started to take pictures.”

That led to buying a younger, more energetic horse. One that was almost too much for her to handle.

“I started to ride every day then,” she said. “So that’s actually how my horse journey began. A little bit out of misery.”

Attitude Makes All The Difference

Peter, meanwhile, found his stride at the ranch working more on the human resources side. 

“I love to start up things and then improve them,” he said. “Or, if things are not working really well business wise, then kind of sort that out and find the positioning, build teams and all that.”

The ranch, when Peter came on board, was in the latter category, where it was not really working very well. That gave him an immediate puzzle to start working on. 

“The culture in Wyoming is different than the culture on the East Coast or North Carolina or California,” he added. “So there was a little bit of an interesting challenge to try to understand Wyoming.”

At the end of the day, though, Peter believes it all boiled down to respect.

“In order to run a good business, everyone who works here, that includes the horses and the employees, everyone needs to work in a culture where they feel really respected,” he said. “They have to have the right tools, nice equipment to drive, great tech, and all of that. They have great accommodations to sleep in, and only then can they really embrace your culture and make people happy who come on vacation here.”

That attitude extends as well to the horses, Peter added, who are also treated like valued employees, with respect first and foremost. 

“What we try to offer here is actually a great experience,” Peter said. “And then also, like the property, the buildings, the barns, cabins, everything is very well-maintained, in excellent shape, because we’re calling it the Hideout, and it’s actually our passion to create a place where you hide out from the world.”

Why The Ranch Chose Mustangs

The ranch didn’t start out using mustang horses.

“When we came on board, everybody was about Quarter Horses,” Peter said. “We bought young Quarter Horses, which are expensive, and paid good trainers to train them.”

After reading about mustangs, however, he and his wife started to change their thinking.

“I compared them with kids born on the street in less developed countries, who did not have the privilege to go to a good school,” he said. “Much like all of us are born in countries and families that gave us more access to a good education. But that does not make us smarter than, for example, a kid born in the streets of India. On the contrary, born in those circumstances, it makes one more creative.”

Mustangs, Peter decided, are survivors. What would happen if they had access to quality trainers?

So, they decided to give a few mustangs a try. At first, it was just to see how things would go. But the horses quickly proved their worth.

“They had less hoof, colic and other issues,” Peter said. “They come in all shapes and forms. Some are taller, some are more cold-blooded, and some have too much blood for our operation, but are still great horses.”

Eventually as word got out about the ranch’s mustangs, a well-known Austrian film and documentarian named Erich Proll came and started filming documentaries about the mustangs at the Hideout. 

“We kept and trained his and other people’s mustangs,” Peter said. “Guests are fascinated by these horses. Besides, we believe the mustang (is a) symbol for the American melting pot. People and horses from around the world brought to this continent. Italians marrying Irish. Swedes to Spanish people. Brits to French.”

Mustangs can claim a similar heritage, Peter added, and he believes that just makes them a stronger horse.

“But above all, they are a great, sure-footed low-maintenance guest horse,” he said. “As they are very intuitive, they match well with our respectful horsemanship training principles.”

These days, Peter and his wife only ride mustangs, because they play so well into their authentic horsemanship program. 

“(They) are the ultimate mixed authentic horse. They have so much personality,” he said. “That program is just another example of thinking outside the box, looking around with an open mind, and seeing what is available to develop. But it is a work of years. You don’t just approach this as the “flavor of the day” like “this year we will do mustangs, next year something else.”

Selling Is Bittersweet

Selling the ranch now, while the couple are still so passionate about it, is something the couple have put a lot of thought into. Just as much thought as they put into creating their haven from the world.

“We’re getting older,” Marijn said. “Peter’s 65 and I’m 61, so we know that selling a place like this can take quite some time. We know if we put it on the market now, we can still keep going for a few years, if it takes a few years, with the same passion.”

That timeline will also leave the couple with healthy years to experience a little bit of traveling themselves — including a summer vacation, which is something the couple have foregone the last 20 years.

Even though they do plan a little summer traveling, they still plan to keep on living in Shell, Wyoming, as both of them have come to love the wildness of the Cowboy State, as well as the friendliness of its people.

“It’s funny, like for me, the things that actually frightened me in the beginning, like the vastness, the big open spaces, the silence, are the things that I love now,” Marijn said. “Wyoming really grows on you, just this calmness, this absolute silence. When I go back to Belgium now to visit family and friends, just arriving in the airport and getting in a car, I don’t want to drive there anymore because it’s so hectic and there’s noise always. So, Wyoming definitely grows on you and the people, absolutely, too.”

The couple do hope they’ll find a new buyer who will continue what they’ve started, and plan to offer their services part-time, in that case. 

“For us, I mean, we’ve been making guests from all over the world happy for the last 20 years,” Marijn said. “So, it would mean a lot for us if that would continue.”

“And for our team as well,” Peter added. “We have a really great, loyal team of people who are very supportive, who have worked for us for a long time from all walks of life, because we attracted quite a few people from outside of the United States, and they discovered Shell (by coming to) a guest ranch.”

Some of those international transplants who came to live and work at the ranch have also gone on to buy property and start businesses and families in Shell.

“In a small, little town, it has, like, a big impact,” Peter said. “It’s a great business and place to live for. A great vision to life for because every week we make so many people happy and we change lives.”

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.