The French Trotter (also 'Norman Trotter') is a horse breed that excels at trotting races. It has an extremely fast trot, with only the Standardbred being able to trot faster. It is a different breed from the French Chaser.

The trotter horse of France:
In the 1830s, trotting races became popular in France, and that led breeders from Normandy to develop a French breed that excels in trotting. To this end, they crossed Thoroughbreds and Norfolk Trotters with local Normandy mares, and, a few decades later, also with Orlov Trotters.

During the 20th century, Standardbreds were added to the mix, and this was when the French Trotter was officially created.

The French Trotter today:
French Trotters are superb trotters, and are considered to be the only big rival to the Standardbred (see the 'Standardbred' for more info.) They are extremely popular in Europe, particularly in France, and are used for both driving trotting races and mounted trotting races.

A native racer, but not a Chaser:
The French Trotter is one of France's two native racehorse breeds, the other one being the French Chaser.

The Chaser was born out of crossing Thoroughbreds with Selle-Francais horses, and is bred to be a galloper that can clear obstacles in steeplechases. The Trotter was born out of crossing Thoroughbreds with trotters, and is bred to be a trotter who aces trotting races.

Each of these breeds has a separate registry, a separate studbook, and a different breed standard. So, while they are both French racehorse breeds, they are still vastly different.

Conformation:
The French Trotter has a compact, more squarish frame than other trotting breeds, but is also the tallest trotter on average, reaching up to 17.1hh.

The head is broad and has a straight or slightly-convex profile, and long ears. The neck is muscular and connects to slightly prominent withers. The back is short and, together with the long legs, gives the body a relatively squarish frame. The croup is slightly-sloping and the hindquarters are muscular, forming a powerful engine behind the French Trotter's explosive trot.

The mane is short or medium in length, but the tail grows long.

Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered French Trotters in Horse Isle (not bred ones). In rare cases, horses might have metrics outside of the range. Breeders can produce horses that are beyond this range.

Speed: 16.7-18.3, 17.6 (0.3), 0.06.
Sprint: 58-68, 63 (2), 0.44.

Accel: 0.87-1.05, 0.96 (0.04), 0.01.
Decel: 0.94-1.04, 0.98 (0.02), 0.00.

Jump: 5.18-5.41, 5.31 (0.05), 0.01.
Pull: 2.39-2.97, 2.65 (0.14), 0.03.

Turning: 48.88-60.95, 54.66 (2.71), 0.53.
Reverse: 2.4-2.9, 2.7 (0.1), 0.03.

Stamina: 44.98-50.50, 48.23 (1.29), 0.25.
Reaction: 0.77-0.87, 0.83 (0.02), 0.00.

Coats & Height:
Colors: usually bay, chestnut or brown. Less often black, grey, and, even more rarely, dominant-white.

Additionals: flaxen, rabicano, roan, sooty, dark mane & tail. The coat is usually solid, but can also be white-spotted sabino. While markings often occur on solid horses, they don't exceed low socks and the rare blaze.

Height: usually 15.3hh and 16.3hh, but the full range is 15.1hh to 17.1hh.