Get your hooves off me! Stallions clash during traditional village event in Spain

Filed Under EN

By
James Titcomb

PUBLISHED:

17:37 GMT, 7 July 2012

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UPDATED:

20:00 GMT, 7 July 2012

Wild stallions may be prone to a little horseplay, but the behaviour of these two certainly needs to be reined in.

The horses put on a decent imitation of Hollywood’s iconic boxer Rocky – himself nicknamed the Italian Stallion – at a traditional Spanish festival.

They jockeyed during the epic Rapa des Bestas – shearing of the beasts – festival in the northwestern region of Galicia.

Horseplay: These two wild stallions engage in a spot of boxing earlier today at the rapa das bestas in Spain

Horses battle during the event, in which the beasts are rounded up and groomed before being released

In the event, hundreds of wild horses are driven through the Spanish hills before they are rounded up, trimmed and groomed in different villages around the area.

The 400-year-old, three-day festival takes place every year on the first weekend of July.

To round up the wild horses, men wrestle them to the ground – often using nothing more than their bare hands.

It takes three men – known as aloitadores – to subdue the horses so that they can be cleaned. Newborn horses are tagged so that they can be identified next year.

It is dangerous work, with local men risking their lives to be part of the celebrations, meaning tourists are not allowed to take part in proceedings.

Stampede: Hundreds of horses from the northwestern Galicia region are driven to villages around the area