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.

Fire fighters attend a drill session during the Jilin Fire Fighting Emergency Rescue Drill On Setpember 28, 2011 in Changchun, Jilin Province of China. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

Jaime “Ka Diego” Padilla (R), spokesperson of the Melito Glor Command of the New People's Army (NPA), and Ka Kathryn (Comrade Kathryn) (L) react during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)

Mohamed Mostafa, 35, carries dyed yarns at a dye workshop in old Cairo, Egypt, March 17, 2016. Egypt's hard currency crisis and competition from modern factories in Asia and at home threaten one of the last dye workshops in Egypt. But one of its owners takes comfort in the trade's ancient resilience. Mohamed Mostafa boasts that the profession dates back 3,000 years, so it can survive anything. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

In this November 9, 2014 photo, a man sits on the rope holding his bull by the neck as he waits to enter it in a bull fight in Leogane, Haiti. The obscure Haitian practice of fighting bulls is brutal like a cock or dog fight, but on a larger scale. A casual pastime for some rural men, it is serious business for others looking to pay their children's school fees or even buy a car. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)

Visarute Angkatavanich gets incredibly close up to capture these stunning portraits of Siamese fighting fish in graceful, dancerly poses. The Thai photographer uses perfectly placed lighting to create the dramatic highlights and shadows that give personality to each little finned creature.

Iranian-Kurdish female fighters hold their weapons during a battle with Islamic State militants in Bashiqa, near Mosul, Iraq on November 3, 2016. (Photo by Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)