Poitou

The Poitou is a French donkey bred for one job: siring big mules. Mule breeding has been documented in the Poitou region of western France for over a thousand years, the breed was standardized around 1700, and the studbook opened in 1884. The French name says it plainly. A baudet is a sire of mules, as opposed to an ane, an ordinary donkey.

Poitou jacks were put to mares of one particular draft breed, the Mulassier, and the mules that came out were the best in Europe. The mules were sold everywhere. The breeding stock stayed in Poitou.

When demand for mules collapsed after the Second World War the breed nearly went with it. Its small home range made it fragile, and by 1980 there were fewer than 80 left anywhere. Numbers recovered to around 2,500 registered by 2012, and the Asinerie du Baudet du Poitou now runs a conservation program alongside the regional park.

The Conservancy began an American census in 2020 after two large herd dispersals put the US population at risk. If you are buying one here, ask where it sits in that census. The American population is small enough that a single dispersal moves the numbers.