French Conformation Standard
Use This As A Guide to Help Identify Poitou
- Large and long head
- Ears long and wide open and covered with long hairs
- Strong neckline
- Withers modest and not prominent
- Straight and long back; well attached at the hips; hips not prominent
- Rump as long as it is wide, fitting into a square
- Long thighs and straight shoulder
- Prominent sternum; large chest; round ribs
- Powerful limbs, very wide joints
- Feet wide and open, and covered with hair
- Bay brown to black pangaré coat (pale hair around eyes, muzzle, and underside of body), the hairs may lighten to give a faded brown colored coat. Under the belly and inner thighs light gray, without going to washed white around the mouth and nose
- Silvery gray eyes bordered by a reddish halo
- The color of the animal must not be a rubicano (white ticked hairs scattered throughout the coat) nor have a dorsal stripe (band black along the dorsal line from the withers to the tail) or bear the scapular band or a cross band
- Ideally, the adult male (5 years old) will have a minimum height of 1m40 (13.3 hands), and the adult female (5 years old) will be a minimum height of 1m35 (13.1 hands)
