Women jockeys saddle up for Swiss Cow Grand Prix

The prize on offer: a 40-kilogram (88-pound) bag of feed for the winner, a traditional Alpine cowbell, a bouquet of flowers, and a whole lot of local pride.

The race is held in Flumserberg, a village more than 1,300 metres (4,265 feet) up in the mountains above the picturesque Wahlensee lake, close to Switzerland's eastern border with tiny Liechtenstein.

The event began in 2006 and is the highlight of autumn festivities in Flumserberg, held alongside a cheese market in the final weeks before snow turns the ski station's green pastures white.

The cows' foreheads are decorated with flowers.

However, they are only put on at the last minute, because the cows "love to eat them", said Rolf Blumer from the "Heidiland" tourism office, which represents the region associated with the eponymous heroine of Johanna Spyri's 1880s novel.

© Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

Udderly unpredictable

The start and finish line for Sunday's two-lap race was marked on the grass with a line of hay.

"I feel good; a little nervous, but I think it'll be fine. We'll hold on and give it everything!" said Nina Beeler, before clambering on board Cobra, an eight-year-old Swiss Brown cow.

The handlers on the ground let go of the bridles and the cows suddenly shoot forward.

But soon enough, the stampede settles down and each cow does its own thing -- some progressing at a steady pace, others curiously approaching the crowd of thousands lining the undulating, circular course.

"It's very different from riding a horse," said Selena Gadient, 22, one of Cobra's trainers.

"It's more unpredictable: you really have to hold on tight, and you can't steer the cow -- that's the big difference," Gadient told AFP.

"You don't have such a comfortable seat either, so it takes a lot of effort."

Cobra sped off on the first lap, but slowed down on the second and finished at the back of the pack, as last year's reigning champion Viola surged through on the inside -- right at the end -- to take the crown once again.

Her rider Lea Werner raised her fist in celebration as she crossed the finish line, milking the applause.

"The most important thing isn't to win but to take part," she insisted, hoisting the victory cowbell aloft and giving it a ring.

Secret training sessions

The Cow Grand Prix's organiser Remo Rupf said the initial idea was to put on an event for people coming to the cheese market.

"Some of the farmers' wives had the idea of organising a cow race," he told AFP.

"The men didn't think it was such a good idea, or it would be too difficult, so the women trained in secret.

"That's why only women are allowed to ride."

The race is now the highlight of the autumn, attracting up to 5,000 spectators to Flumserberg, spending the rest of the day listening to schlager folk music and sampling the Alpine produce.

A few years ago "we had some animal rights activists who came through the barriers," said Rupf.

"But actually we have permission from the veterinary office, so the animal rights activists are assured that everything is fine. And every cow really does participate voluntarily.

"If a cow doesn't want to run, she doesn't. She simply stops and stays where she is."