The traditional event dates back centuries and happens every year from Saturday to Monday in the first week of July in the Galician village in northwestern Spain.

Wild horses are herded from the mountains into the village, where they are rounded up and wrestled to the ground. The tradition is seen by locals as a test of strength and will.

The fighters (both men and women) work in teams of three to force the animals into submission, and then trim their manes and tails.

"This tradition promotes body to body fighting, without a leash – man against horse, in a noble way. Of course there is no intention of mistreating, it's just power against power, to see what happens," Michel Tourino, a participant in the event, told Ruptly video news agency.