Stunning photographs capture brutal fight between two Long Mynd wild ponies

Wildlife photographer Andrew Fusek Peters, 59, captured the 'vicious' fight unfolding on the Long Mynd in Shropshire last week.

The two raging females are seen squaring up to each other before the grey ‘challenger’ launches at her white rival.

The pair are pictured biting and kicking at each other’s necks and backs as they fight for the crown of leader of the herd.

Andrew, of Lydbury North, has been photographing the wild ponies on the moors for more than a decade.

He said: "I have been going up there for ten years and photographed the wild ponies many times but I have never seen this behaviour before.

“I just happened to be there at dusk and these two ponies started kicking off beside me. I was incredibly lucky to witness what I did.

“It was vicious stuff with each pony trying to take bites out the other. It went on for ten minutes or so and was very violent.”

The ponies live wild but belong to commoners who own grazing rights on the hill.

The females usually lead their herds and decide where they graze and which animals are in the pecking order.

Fights often occur when younger females in the herd make a challenge to the leader or when a rival tries to join a new herd.

Andrew added: “The herds are led by the females. There are stallions in the herds too but the females are the ones who make the decisions.

“Fights happen for a number of reasons, be it pecking order or challenges. It is always a privilege to witness something like this.”