Combat des Reines, Switzerland

Posted by David Whitley May 23, 2007

When most of us think of Roman amphitheatres, visions of Russell Crowe valiantly battling against fellow gladiators come to mind. Well, you’ll see none of that in the Roman Amphitheatre of Martigny, Switzerland in October when Combat de Reines is held. What you will see, however, is two cows fighting it out to be given the title of Queen of the Herd in a bizarre sporting event.

The strange contest dates back to the distant past, when farmers in the Valais region would argue about whose cow was the best one to lead the herd to the summer pastures. This snowballed into violence, as these things often do, and now the cows face off in the ring for the prestigious title. Heats are held in Swiss villages throughout the summer, with hundreds of cows using their best pugilistic moo-ves on each other.

It all boils down to the October stand-off in Martigny’s ancient amphitheatre, which is a local version of the Superbowl or FA Cup Final. Only the best of the best get this far, and the build up has all the earnest comic factor of a Rocky film.

The farmers care – really care, although the viewing public is slightly less concerned about the prestige, and more into the plentiful drinking and betting opportunities that surround the bovine biffo.

Forget cock-fighting and badger-baiting, the cow-fighting of Combat des Reines is best bit of animal aggro you’ll ever get to see. I’ll have a tenner on Daisy – Ermintrude looks like she has a really weak jaw.