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.

Japanese monkeys look relaxed as they soak in a hot spring at the Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden in Hakodate in Hokkaido, northern Japan, on January 14, 2022. (Photo by Kyodo News/Action Press via Reuters)

A model present a creation by Marina Hoermanseder during the Berlin Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 in Berlin, Germany, January 17, 2019. (Photo by Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

A girl takes a skateboard class from the NGO “CDD Skate Arte”, at a public skate park in the City of God favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, August 5, 2021. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

Children dance during the International Tournament of Joropo in Villavicencio, Colombia, Saturday, November 13, 2021. Joropo is the traditional music and dance of the Eastern Plains of Colombia and Venezuela. (Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP Photo)

American TikTok star Charli D'Amelio attends CELSIUS Cosmic Desert Event at Coachella on April 12, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for CELSIUS Energy)

Models present outfits made with air balloons during an international festival of air balloons design in Almaty, Kazakhstan, July 9, 2015. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

A Mai-Mai rebel soldier shows off his guns at a checkpoint near the Mugunga refugee camp in Zaire; 1996. (Photo by Carol Guzy/The Washington Post)