There comes a point where liking the American West makes you wonder what it would be like to actually get out into it.

Not just visit Wyoming. Ride it.

And yes — you can do that from the UK.

American Roundup is a British specialist that arranges ranch holidays and Western adventures across the USA and Canada, then helps build the rest of the trip around them too. So instead of finding a ranch in Montana and then separately wrestling with flights, hotels, cars and onward travel, you can plan the whole thing through one UK-based operator.

And some of the choices are properly wild.

At Silver Spur Ranch in Idaho, experienced riders can join a five-night horse drive covering more than 70 miles of Rocky Mountain country.

You’re helping move around 40 young horses.

There is a reason for it, too. The drive rotates grazing and teaches the young horses how to handle creeks, fallen timber, steep ground and open country before anyone starts riding them. Guests spend three nights back at the ranch and two nights out on the trail.

That is a very different proposition from following a guide down a prepared trail for an hour.

And then there is Wyoming.

American Roundup offers cattle drives with Double Rafter in the Big Horn Mountains where there are no guest cabins waiting at the end of the day. The camp moves with the cattle. You sleep in tents, cook over hot coals and can expect at least six hours in the saddle.

In summer, washing means the creek.

Spring and autumn come with the rather less romantic suggestion of wet wipes.

The good news is that you don’t have to start there.

American Roundup’s job is matching people with the right version of a ranch holiday. Its portfolio covers different riding abilities and styles of trip, and it can build the rest of the journey around the ranch too — flights, hotels, hire cars, motorhomes and onward travel.

That matters if the horses are part of the dream but not your entire personality.

You could spend a few days riding, then head for Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon or a road trip across the West. Equally, if what you really want is long days on horseback, livestock in front of you and a bedroll waiting at camp, that exists too.

The main thing is knowing which one you are booking.

Because there is quite a distance between “I’d love to stay on a ranch” and “I am happy to spend six hours moving cattle and wash in a creek afterwards.”

American Roundup gives British travellers a route into both.

And somewhere between the two is probably your West.

AMERICAN ROUNDUP — USEFUL LINKS & GOOD TO KNOW

Before you book: ranch dates, prices, riding requirements, availability and what is included vary considerably. Some of the harder horse and cattle drives require strong riding fitness and long days in the saddle, so check the individual trip carefully rather than assuming every ranch holiday suits every rider.