Participants take pictures of themselves as others run past the Tiananmen gate during the Beijing Marathon in Beijing, China, September 17, 2016. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A petitioner with her grievances written on her clothes walks along a street in Beijing Tuesday, December 22, 2015. After months behind bars, Pu Zhiqiang, one of China's most prominent human rights lawyers, left a detention center Tuesday after receiving a suspended prison sentence in a case involving online comments critical of the ruling Communist Party. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

A giant Iron Man statue stands next to a replica Sphinx in Chuzhou, Anhui Province, China on February 21, 2017. (Photo by Sipa Asia/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Couples take part in a competition during a mass wedding of 64 doctoral student couples at Harbin Institute of Technology, a university in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China, June 4, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Tourists crowd a water park in Wuhan city, central China's Hubei province on July 15, 2017. Days of heat wave drove many citizens to the water park for fun and coolness. Nanchang has become the new four “furnace cities” in China according to a ranking of the hottest cities released by the China Meteorological Administration on July 9. (Photo by Imaginechina/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Women take a selfie next to a police officer as they take part in New Year's Eve celebrations in the Bund, in Shanghai, China December 31, 2016. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Students attend a stewardess skill training for the upcoming 2017 entrance examination for art majors in colleges in Luoyang, central China's Henan Province, January 4, 2017. Along with how to stand, how to sit is also covered in these classes. (Photo by Li Bo/Xinhua/Barcroft Images)

It’s a tradition that dates back hundreds of years, where two stallions fight over a female to ring the Chinese new year. And when it’s the Year of the Horse, the fights are considered to be even more significant. They’re held in small villages across southern China and have been condemned by animal rights groups, including Hong-Kong based Animals Asia. But those who participate in the events defend the fights and insist they take care of the animals.