It has a large to medium-sized head, a shortened poll, a neck that is medium in length and fleshy, withers that are average in height, a back that is long and flat, a loin that is broad as well as a croup that is broad, and the horse is well muscled.

The Tori has a very broad and deep chest, and limbs that are clean and properly set.

This breed was mainly founded by a stallion named Hetman, whose sire was Stewart, a crossbreed of a Norfolk Trotter and an Anglo-Norman mare.

Thus, a valuable breeding nucleus rapidly formed, that slowed as signs of inbreeding depression were found in the 1930s.

The need for a combination of utility and sporting qualities in horse led to crossings with Hanoverian, Holstein and Trakehner stallions.