It is the product of mating between a Baudet du Poitou jack or donkey stallion with a mare of the Poitevin Mulassier breed of draught horse.

[2]: 40  In the early twentieth century there were about 50,000 Poitevin Mulassier brood mares, which gave birth to some 18,000–20,000 mule foals per year.

[3]: 156 The Poitevin mule was well known for its size and strength, and was exported to other parts of France and to many countries, among them Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey; many travelled further, to the Russian Empire and the United States.

[4]: 271  With the mechanisation of agriculture after the Second World War, demand for mules rapidly fell to low levels.

[5] The Poitevin mule was recognised by the Haras Nationaux of France in 2002; a mule foal born to a registered and approved Baudet du Poitou jack and a registered Poitevin Mulassier mare is automatically eligible for registration in the stud-book of the Poitevin mule.