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.

People dressed as a “Chinese Dragon”, swim in water at the Beijing Aquarium on January 5, 2012 in Beijing, China. The new year in Chinese calendar is the year of Dragon which will fall on January 21, 2012. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

A woman takes a selfie in front of a Lunar New Year display featuring sheep at a shopping mall in Hong Kong, February 13, 2015. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

A Ukrainian serviceman wearing a new year's hat waves at his comrades while standing beside his tank near Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine, February 8, 2015. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

A motorcyclist dodges in the annual water-splashing festival to mark the New Year of the Dai minority in Menglian, Yunnan province April 13, 2015. (Photo by Wong Campion/Reuters)

Young girls dress up in traditional costumes and pose for a selfie at the opening ceremony of the Leishan Miao new year festival in the city of Kaili, Guizhou province, China on November 23, 2015. (Photo by Imaginechina/Rex Shutterstock)

A member of the Edo Firemanship Preservation Association displays his balancing skills atop bamboo ladders during a New Year demonstration by the fire brigade in Tokyo, Japan, January 6, 2017. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

A woman poses for a photo on a street decorated for the fore coming Lunar New Year in Bangkok's Chinatown on February 9, 2021. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)