An anti-hunting activist got more than he bargained for recently when he grabbed the reins of a woman’s horse to try and stop her from engaging in a hunting outing.

Instead of stopping the rider, though, she broke out her riding crop and gave the anti-hunting punk the whipping of his life.

Calling themselves the “Brighton Hunt Saboteurs,” a group of black-clad, anti-fa-like activists who aim to end fox hunting, recently swarmed into the fields near Pevenseyman, England, to stop a group of hunters on horseback, the Daily Mail reported.

Not surprisingly, when the two sides met on the field tempers flared between the two groups.

During the arguments, one of the anti-hunting advocates grabbed the reins of a woman’s horse to prevent the animal from joining in the hunt.

The rider repeatedly warned the activist to let go of her horse and when he persisted, she raised her riding crop and brought it crashing down on his head. Repeatedly. In fact, she slashed at him up to 17 times before he wisely turned loose of the reins(NSFW):

Meanwhile, the other activists screamed that horses shouldn’t be turned into “weapons.” Another screamed “don’t charge horses into people. You can’t ride people down.”

The British government put heavy restrictions on hunts back in 2004, but the hunting group insists that their activities are within the law.

A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said, “As we have always known, the reality is that the anti-hunting movement is far more about the hatred of people who hunt than the love of animals.”

Local police reported having opened an investigation into the incident:

A third party report of an assault has been made after a man was allegedly struck with a riding crop by a horse rider in Herstmonceux on Saturday (November 18).

The incident happened in a field off Church Road around 12:30 p.m. The victim was reported to have received a bruise and bump to the head, but did not require medical treatment.

The informant was not a witness to the incident, but police have now identified the alleged victim and an investigation is under way.

Police are aware of a video reportedly showing the incident being available on social media.

One of the anti-hunt activists, 28-year-old Martin Shaw, criticized the hunters saying that their reaction was over the top and unfortunate.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.