Photo Story: Cowboy. In Saxony

Half a kilometer away from the 100-soul village Fasendorf in the Saxon Vogtland Dietmar Lämmerhirt has built a ranch. Every day he rides there with his horses, cares for cattle, teaches others how to take care of the animals and maintains the facility. He leads the life of a cowboy.

The photographer Ulrike Schmid happened to see a documentary about a cowboy family from Switzerland - and was fascinated. In rodeo and cowboy groups on Facebook, she was looking for someone with a similar lifestyle. Someone who would be photographed. She found Dietmar Lämmerhirt.

For a year, she visited him every few weeks for a few days, living with him and his wife, helping out at work - and taking pictures. Her series shows the 62-year-old throwing lasso, driving cattle or decorating his ranch.

The SPIEGEL told Lämmerhirt that he loves horses since childhood, as an adult started with the western riding - but at some point was no longer enough. He wanted his own animals and his own farm and fulfilled this long-cherished dream about 20 years ago in the Saxon wasteland.

photo gallery

13 pictures

He met two American cowboys who taught him the basics of working with cattle and horses. Otherwise, according to the photographer, most of his knowledge comes from books and films, but he has never been to America. To what extent his idea of ​​reality and not just a cliché, he does not know.

He is still called Cowboy, the American name for cattle herder. From early morning until evening he feeds the animals and mops the stable; he trains his neighbors' cattle, brings them from one paddock to the next, or repairs fences. He's always out there, says Lammerhirt. Sometimes he also organizes rodeos where riders from different countries participate. He does not earn money, he is financed by his pension.

Now and then he meets with like-minded people, with whom he exchanges about riding and the animals. His appearance also tells of his passion: he wears jeans, hat, cowboy boots. He has decorated his house with drums and pictures of horses.

Despite his age and health problems, Lämmerhirt obviously can not imagine stopping his work. "I'll do that until I fall off the saddle," he says.