VIETNAM: Five interesting competitions for animals

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Five interesting competitions for animals

On July 7, 2012 at 1:11 pm (GMT+7) Leave a Comment
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Besides traditional competitions for animals like cock fighting and buffalo
fighting, dog racing, pig racing, cow racing and elephant racing have become
new tourism products of some provinces in Vietnam.

Dog racing

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The coastal city of Vung Tau is a well-known tourist site in Vietnam. At
weekends, besides swimming in the sea, enjoying entertainment and amusement
activities and visiting beautiful areas, visitors can watch dog racing, a
fun and unique sport.

Dog racing was introduced to Vietnam by Sport and Entertainment Service
Company (SES-VN) and was licensed in 2001 in Vung Tau city.

Vung Tau is the only place in Vietnam and Southeast Asia that has this
sport. The dogs are Greyhounds, a hunting dog breed from Ireland which were
imported to Vietnam by Nguyen Ngoc My, a Vietnamese Australian man.

SES-VN breeds this species of dog in a farm in Ba Ria Town. Now Lam Son
Stadium which serves as a dog racecourse and dog training center has about
800 Greyhounds.

Dog racing is usually held on Saturdays so it is convenient for tourists to
watch during their visit to Vung Tau.

The races last three hours, from 19h30 to 22h30, with 10 laps. Each circuit
is 450m long and involves eight dogs that run at a speed of nearly 60km/hour
or about 30 seconds per lap on average which is faster than the speed of a
track-and-field athlete. The dog reaching the finish line first is the
winner.

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The racecourse is not too large, so viewers in the stands can watch the
running of the "dog athlete." After the starting gun has started the race, a
fake rabbit which is stuck on a slide around the track, will move ahead and
faster than the dogs, but the distance between the bait and the dogs is kept
within reach.

Besides watching the dog race, the viewers also participate in the prize
program to make the race more exciting.

Before choosing a dog to focus on, fans are provided with a brochure with
instructions on how to choose a potential winner. There are detailed
introductions on each dog, from its good or bad past performances to its
health and the last race it participated in. This information helps the fans
calculate and consider before making a selection.

However, this is just a little "spice" to make the race more interesting for
the viewers' relaxation and entertainment, not for betting or competition.
Therefore, the slogan that the organizers of this sport set out is: "Enjoy
each race to ignore the stress in work."

Pig racing

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This is a popular "sports" in tourist sites in southern Vietnam. In HCM
City, visitors can go to the Ethnic Minority Culture Ecological Tourist
Center in Nhuan Duc commune, Cu Chi district, to watch pig racing.

The racecourse for pigs includes six tracks of 15 meters. After the
start-off sound from a gong, six pigs gallop forward in the shout of
audience.

Pig athletes can race when they are hungry. Bonus for them is food. A pig
cannot run for over ten rounds and their career is from 4-6 months.

Cow racing

<http://talkvietnam.com/uploads/2012/07/ ... lly-bay-nu
i-southern-province-giang-480914.jpg> Description: The most famous cow race
is held annually in Bay Nui of the southern province of An Giang.

The most famous cow race is held annually in Bay Nui of the southern
province of An Giang.

Sene Dolta is celebrated in all villages of the Khmer people, but the cow
racing festival, part of the Sene Dolta, is the most striking event which
takes place only in the Bay Nui (Seven Mountain) region.

The cow racing was previously held in a large rice-field at a Khmer pagoda
by a senior monk for the cows of this village and those of other villages to
compete with each other, so as to find some pairs of cows which ran fast and
were strong enough for plowing in the next crops. Through time, the cow
racing becomes a traditional sport of the Khmer people in An Giang Province.

Tourists will feel so surprised to witness such a strange competition
because competitors have to go hand-in-hand and are tethered by a long
bamboo stick. They have to drag the harrow and be driven by a man, who holds
a rod to spur the pair of cows to run as fast as they can.

The rule of the game is simple. The racetrack, set in a muddy and slippery
field, is some 120 meters long with both the start and finish lines marked
with red and green flag poles; each pole stands five meters apart.

Each race involves two pairs of cows and they will stand next to their pole.
When the start command is raised, a pair will run first and the other will
follow. If the latter treads on the harrow of the former, they will win
immediately. Or, if they touch the finish line first, they will also win,
and of course, the finish line of the former is farther than that of the
latter.

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Each pair of cows are tethered the harrow and managed by a man. Each
competition includes 2 pairs, following direct elimination rule. They will
race 3 rounds attractively and then try their best to reach the target.
After two rounds of rodeo to warm up the competition, the 120-meter-long
sprint will decide the winners and the losers.

The audience shouts for joy, while the sprint resembles a horse competition
in a film of the Roman Empire period. The driver's skill plays an important
role for the tournament. The winning drivers are considered the bravest men
of the region.

The prices of the cows winning the first, second and third prizes will be
increased up to two or three taels of gold.

According to the Khmer people, the winning pair of cows will bring good luck
to villagers, so local residents will not sell but keep them as a precious
property for the owners' families as well as the villages.

Elephant racing

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If you have a chance to go to Dak Lak Province in the Central Highlands in
springtime, you should not miss the Elephant Race Festival, normally
celebrated in the third lunar month. Attending the festival, you will be
lived in the boisterous atmosphere of the echo of gongs and the spectacular
performances of the elephants from the Central Highlands forest.

The Elephant Race Festival is usually held in Don Village or in forests near
the Sevepoi River. In preparation for the festive day, people take their
elephants to places where they can eat their fill. Apart from grass their
food also includes bananas, papayas, sugar canes, corns, sweet potatoes. The
elephants are free from hard work to preserve their strength.

On the big day, elephants from different villages gather at Don Village. The
race track is on even ground, preferably wide enough for ten elephants to
stand simultaneously in a line with a length of one to two kilometres.
People from near and far in their best and colourful costumes flock to the
festival.

With the signal of tu va (horns made into musical instruments), the mahouts
command their elephants to go to the race track, standing in a row at the
starting point.

The leading elephant stands in front, whirling his trunk and nodding his
head in greeting the spectators. Atop each elephant there are two handlers
in traditional costumes for generals. The tu va signals the start of the
race and the elephants rush ahead, excited by the sound of the drums, gongs,
and cheering from the spectators.

Upon seeing the first elephant dashing to the destination, the spectators
shout boisterously amidst the echoing sound of drums and gongs. At the end
of the race, the winning elephants lift their trunks above their heads to
wave to the viewers, walk deliberately flapping their ears gently, gazing
through half-closed eyes to receive sugarcane from their viewers.

The winning elephant is given a laurel wreath. Like its owner, the elephant
expresses its happiness and enjoy the sugar canes and bananas from the
festival-goers.

After this race, the elephants participate in the competition of swimming
across the Serepok River, of tug-of-wars, or throwing balls and playing
football. When the race comes to an end, the competing elephants bring back
the atmosphere of the festival to their villages.

Upon returning to their village, they receive warm welcome from the
villagers. Very often, the elephants from Don Village win the prizes as the
village has a tradition of training and tending elephants.

The elephant race is the biggest festival in the Central Highlands. Coming
here, you will not only feel the martial spirit of the M'nong ethnic people,
who are very famous for their bravery and skill in hunting and taming wild
elephants, but also the magnificent landscape of the Central Highlands which
further stresses the grandiose characters of this traditional festival.

Goat fighting

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Meo Vac district in the northern mountain province of Ha Giang is famous for
folklore festivals and competitions, including Khau Vai love market, rain
worshipping, and bull and goat fighting.

Goat fighting is part of the Khau Vai Love Market Cultural and Tourism
Festival which takes place in the third lunar month.

Untamed goats, which are raised in the highlands for wool, meat and milk by
Mong, Dao and Tay ethnic people, are brought to the competition field,
acting as contestants.

When the festival is in full swing, local people select the strongest bucks
(male goats) in the herd to take part in competitions.

<http://talkvietnam.com/uploads/2012/07/ ... ce-land-fo
ot-mountain-fenced-bamboo-pol-480914.jpg> Description: The competition field
is a round, flat piece of land at the foot of the mountain fenced with
bamboo poles tied together with ropes.

The competition field is a round, flat piece of land at the foot of the
mountain fenced with bamboo poles tied together with ropes.

Spectators stand outside the fence and excitedly watch intense competitions
until the winner is named.

The owner of the winning goat is believed to have good luck all year round.

Compiled by Mai Lan