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.

A couple shares a light moment in a Mass Transit Railway (MTR) subway train in Hong Kong, China on August 28, 2019. (Photo by Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters)

People take part in a traditional mid-summer solstice night celebration (Rasos Festival) at the Open-Air Museum of Lithuania in Rumsiskes, east of Kaunas, Lithuania, on late June 23, 2020. (Photo by Petras Malukas/AFP Photo)

An artist gets ready backstage to perform an Indian art form of dance called “Ottamthullal” at the annual eight-day long Vrischikolsavam festival, which features a colourful procession of decorated elephants along with drum and trumpets concerts, at Sree Poornathrayeesa temple in Kochi, India, December 7, 2018. (Photo by Sivaram V/Reuters)

Sudanese protesters rally outside the army complex in Sudan's capital Khartoum on April 18, 2019. Huge crowds of protesters thronged the Sudanese capital Khartoum today, a week after the army's ouster of president Omar al-Bashir, determined to complete their revolution seeking civilian rule. (Photo by Ozan Kose/AFP Photo)

In this Thursday, February 14, 2019, photo, a Transformer's Bumblebee mascot helps a woman carries paper bags at a shopping mall in Handan in north China's Hebei province. U.S. and Chinese envoys are holding a second day of trade talks after the top economic adviser to President Donald Trump said he has yet to decide whether to go ahead with a March 2 tariff increase on imports from China. (Photo by Chinatopix via AP Photo)

Madagascan sunset setting over the 98-foot-tall baobab trees of the Avenue of the Baobabs located in Menabe, Madagascar on August 2020. (Photo by Kim Paffen/MediaDrumImages)

A man runs on a small road in the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany, before sunrise on Tuesday, September 1, 2020. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)