Gauchos take Kate Kellaway on a week-long trail ride along Uruguay's stunning coast, and teach her how to herd cattle on a working farm

Our guide stood in front of a map of South America and pointed to Uruguay, squeezed next to Brazil and tiny in comparison. "Look, it is heart-shaped," she said. Patting herself on the chest, she added: "We have big hearts here." It was a line that from the wrong lips would have sounded contrived, but five days into one of the most wonderful riding experiences of my life, what Rosa said was incontrovertibly true. Uruguay, as well as being heart-shaped, is beautiful - a green and uncrowded land (with a population of only 3 million).

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