Hérens cows breed have a strong and aggressive temperament. Each time they meet for the first time and although if they have not been in contact for some time, most of the cows will fight hard. Cows are not prepared or trained to fight but the confrontations occur naturally. The winner will be designated as La Reine (the Queen) of the flock. This ability to fight gave birth to the tradition of the Combats de Reines and attracts many enthusiasts and farmers. Injuries during these clashes are rare.
The classification is done as follows: cows choose herselves their own successive opponents and stop fighting as soon as the defeated turns away. Then, the winner will face another cow. There is not necessarily a fight when two cows meet but a kind of hierarchy will take place. It is not uncommon for a herd not to have a Reine if no cow was able to overcome all its congeners. The classification will be made in the same logic and connoisseurs are able to discern the losers against 2, 3, 4 or more animals.
There are two types of Reines. Like cycling, there are the classics of a day (games) and major tours (alpine seasons from 80 to 100 days). Few cows are able to shine in both disciplines because their owners have set annual targets that require ever greater specialization. In matches that often occur in spring and autumn, the day must be perfect and cows must have a great luck to remove the title. The cows are brought in groups divided according to the age or weight, on a grassy and a relatively flat area. In the Alpage there is the prologue (l'inalpe)... and the cow must win all the entire summer season to keep the crown. Only the largest day of arrival (la désalpe) is authentic. Sometimes, the Reine of the 1st day is overcome while another cow will be back to the classification at the end of the season only. The hierarchy is constantly changing and a herd of 100 cows, it is not uncommon to record 10 fights a day ... making a total of 800 to 1000 per summer struggles.
