This petite farmer has become a real-life beauty and the beast - posing with her huge prize-winning buffalo.

Irin Suay, 32, stands at just 5'2'' tall but makes light work of handling the powerful horned animals she raises in Kalasin, northeast Thailand Thailand.

The glamorous bovine-lover said other ranchers did not believe her when she told them that she could do heavy work in the yard - herding the bulls, locking them in their pens, and putting them to stud.

Irin said: ‘You can never judge a person just by looking. Beautiful girls can also pull some muscles, you know.'

The female farmer's water buffalo have won dozens of competitions. For the shows, she dresses immaculately in brown jodhpurs and boosts with make-up on her face and hair straightened.

Irin said that her animals are worth up to 1,000,000 Baht each (24,748 GBP) because of their bloodline and athleticism.

The demand from fellow breeders for their cows to be covered by the studs has also given Irin a long order book for insemination sessions.

She said: ‘My lovely buffalos have won many competitions, but my main business is buffalo breeding. I sell the sperm of healthy male buffalos to other interested farm owners.

‘I am passionate about my ranch work and love the animals under my care.

'It's important that when I stand alongside the buffalo, that I look as beautiful as them. It shows respect for the buffalo that I have dressed nicely. We're a team.'