Horse-lovers, picture this and drool in envy; spread before me is a sweeping valley, thick with golden grass, pockets of beech trees in pillarbox red and cinnamon orange, a crisp sky and a backdrop of snow-frosted mountains.

Oh, and did I mention the unbelievably turquoise lake and glimpses of the infamous granite columns of the Torres del Paine national park, an hour's drive away?

This is autumn in Patagonia - a landscape simply begging to be galloped through - and thanks to a chance meeting during a three month career break in South America, I have the opportunity to do just that.

I am here with James MacMahon Mahon, a charmingly eccentric Englishman with a penchant for natural fibres and fine wine, and a passion for Patagonia.

From Chile to Argentina on horseback

TV magnate Greg Dyke takes to the saddle and rides 600 miles, plus five more Latin equine adventures

Riding through Lesotho

Nick Thorpe rides a white stallion on an eco-adventure up and across the roof of Africa

• A horseback safari in Kenya

BACKGROUND

• A week in the saddle in Bulgaria

• Riding Kyrgyzstan

• Go wild in the Camargue on horseback

Related Links

• From Chile to Argentina on horseback

We have travelled here for an equine adventure – to train for and compete in EnduranceX, a challenging horse race across private land within the stunningly beautiful national park, southern Chile.

The race, organised by polo enthusiast, Luis Enrique Opazo Baltra, has been running for several years, and is one of a number of similar endurance events that take place at different locations within Chile, including the northern desert of San Pedro de Atacama, mystical Easter Island, and the southernmost part of the continent, Tierra del Fuego.

Here at Las Torres participants choose to race between 20 and 85 km, the winner of each category being determined not only by the fastest overall time, but by the length of time taken for the horse's heart rate to decrease during the vet checks that occur throughout and after the race.

We are using horses owned by a Chilean couple, José Antonio Kusanovic and Tamara McLeod who are friends of James's, and amongst the biggest landowners in the region.

During the weeks prior to the race we have the enviable task of doing long, fast rides across their private land in order to ensure our horses are fit enough to compete.

This area is absolute heaven for riding – it is not without gates and fences, but they are far enough apart to allow us to canter flat out for a full five minutes before we even need to think about slowing down.

Their horses are bred for this type of racing, a tough mixture of the native Criollo, with a bit of Arab thrown in, they are fast and sure-footed, and enjoy their training almost as much as their human counterparts.

The landscape here not only lends itself to pleasure riding – the terrain dictates that a horse is pretty much an essential requirement if your livelihood revolves around sheep or cattle.

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