Dust kicks up behind me as I gallop across a countryside where wide open spaces suck up the sky and stretch to the hazy horizon. There is only land and more land; hills, plains and a sea of rippling pampas.

 Eventually we stop, not because there is a gate or a road or the land runs out. We stop because I don't want my mount, Conchita, to become tired, as we have a few hours to go before heading home, and I want to enjoy the sunset. Home, for the time being, is the Estancia Los Potreros, a 6,000-acre working cattle ranch, isolated high in the sierras, an hour from Córdoba, 500 miles north of Buenos Aires.

I had come from Santiago in Chile, flying over the Andes on a clear day and watching the mountains give way to rolling hills and then endless plains and salt flats punctuated by the occasional road running straight to the horizon. By the time we landed I was aware of the landscape's vast and unpopulated scope. The whole rural gaucho way of life, riding huge distances for basic supplies, was put into perspective.

An Anglo-Argentine family, the Beggs, have owned Los Potreros for four generations but it has been a farm for much longer. In 1679 it was used for breeding mules for the silver mines in Peru. After that the Jesuits came, until forced to leave in 1769. Today, it has 1,000 head of pure-bred Aberdeen Angus, 100 horses, gauchos who have worked here for generations, and an assortment of guests from all over the world

The horses are bred on the estate and used for working the cattle. Some are Pasos Peruanos, others native Argentine Criollos, and the rest crossbreds. All are small, sure-footed and responsive. The Pasos Peruanos are of ancient Peruvian descent, quite different to many Western horses, which often possess some Arab ancestry. The unique quality of the "Peruvians" is that they have the pre-Moorish Spanish paso, an extraordinary gait that enables them to walk at the speed of a canter. The ride is smooth and feels like sitting in a portable armchair, perfectly suited for the distances required of the landscape. It's also ideal for the nervous or beginners.

It was August (late winter in Argentina) when I visited so not the time to round up the cattle (though guests can do so in season), but I and fellow visitors could help on the farm, or we could swim, hike, cycle or simply relax and absorb the scenery and gallop across the plains.

From our first evening ride, we got a feel for the lie of the land stretching below our mountain-top eyrie. Beyond the first range of hills was Córdoba, a jumble of white houses blurred in the haze. Salt flats stretched to the east and in the near distance were hills, soft valleys and acres of pampas grass, shimmering in the low sun.

This ride, known as Top of the World, is one of many possible from the estancia. Virtually any itinerary is possible. You can also camp for a few days, but most guests prefer the luxuries of hot baths, comfy beds and a good dinner to the delights of canvas under the stars.

One memorable shorter ride was to the local school, a small concrete building where a single teacher looks after pupils of all ages. The children still ride to school: two come on the same horse, and one travels over two hours daily each way. There is a traditional stone oven for making bread in the playground and the tiny wooden desks with inkwells speak of another time. Soon the school is to get electricity

We headed on. Spring was in the air. Hawks hovered, cows were ready to calve and buds fit to burst. The fruit trees were starting to blossom. We halted at a church in beautiful surroundings, sitting on the steps where José, one of the gauchos gave us tea and small sponge cakes. Such gentility was an exception, gin and tonic having been the usual order of the day after a morning's ride, followed by a hearty lunch on the veranda. Afternoon tea brought fresh scones and handmade jam, after which it was easy to fall asleep in a hammock listening to the paraqeets bickering in the trees.

The paraqeet was just one of many types of bird here. When the noted ornithologist, Maurice Rumboll, visited, he identified 37 breeds, including the ringed kingfisher and Andean condor. Wildlife is plentiful, too, especially the viscacha, a rodent-like animal, plus partridge, rabbits and the occasional puma

You could read about the flora and fauna in the main estancia building, a single-floor farmhouse with comfy sofas and a roaring fire in the sitting room. Dinner was in a large, communal dining room, where there was no shortage of prime beef, wine and staff, who are part of the extended gaucho family.

Each night, well-fed and slightly tipsy, I'd have to make my way across the lawn and follow a path lit with candles to my cosy cabin where the log fire would be burning and the smell of wood scented the room. Before I went inside I'd stand in the silent night, watching for shooting stars. When the moon was nearly full, the shapes of the trees and hills were silhouettes in a hazy light. The only sound was the rustle of pampas grass swaying gently in this vast yet soothing landscape.