One breed of alps milking cow is naturally aggressive. The cows will butt heads when they meet in the fields to see who is the top cow. Cows rarely injure each other in these contests.
For the Battle of the Queens, farmers from all around the region bring the top bossy cows from their field, and enter them in the competition to win the title of Queen of the Queens.
10 or so cows at a time are brought into the ring, and judges wait to see what will happen. Some cows just end up being chased around all the time, and are eliminated early and asked to leave the ring. Other cows will paw the earth, snort and give each other the evil eye before suddenly turning and butting heads. Some sit with horns deadlocked in a push battle for 5 or more minutes, whilst others charge around the ring pushing back and forth until one gives up and turns tail. Neutral handlers in the ring make sure that there are never two cows ganging up on one, and help to put the halters back on cows who are eliminated from the battle.
If there is no clear winner, judges look to see which cow will back down first when two are brought to look each other in the eye. After several elimination rounds and weight classes, the championship matches begin! It's an all day affair with local food and wine, and yodelers from Switzerland to entertrain the crowds during the 'in between' times when the cows are resting. The winner gets the biggest bell with a fancy leather collar (kind of grotesque if you really think about it - a cow wearing the skin of another cow around their necks?) and a carved wooden plaque .
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