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Alpine

The Alpine is one of the Swiss breeds, and is acceptable in any colour pattern, although bucks with solid white or standard Toggenburg colour and markings are faulted. Ears are upright, the bridge of the nose is straight or slightly dished.

Colour patterns in the Alpine are often referred to by French names: the illustration shows a cou clair (light-coloured neck) broken with a wide white belt. Other colour patterns are cou blanc (white neck, black rear quarters), sundgau (black with white facial stripes, white below knees and hocks, white on either side of the tail), and chamoisée (any shade or mixture of brown, often with a black stripe along the back and white markings on the face) or two-tone chamoisée (usually a lighter brown on the forequarters). A “broken” pattern has large white areas obscuring the basic colours.

Breed Standards: 

Erect ears: all colours and combinations of colours in does.

Minimum Height at Withers and Minimum Weight

Does 30″/76cm.   135lbs./61.36kg.

Bucks 32″/81 cm.  170 lbs./77.27 kg.

 

Disqualifications:

*Pendulous ears

*Bucks that are all white in colour

Colour Terms Used for Alpine are often referred to by French names:

the illustration shows a broken Cou Clair – front quarters are tan, saffron, off-white or shading to grey with black hind quarters.

Other colour patterns are:

Broken Chamoisee – a solid chamoisee broken with another colour by being banded or splashed, etc.

Chamoisee – brown or bay: characteristic markings are black face, dorsal stripe, feet and hind legs and sometimes a martingale running over the withers and down to the chest.

Cou Blanc – white front quarters and black hindquarters with black or grey markings on the head.

Pied – spotted or mottled

Sungau – black with white markings such as under body, facial stripes, etc.

Two-toned Chamoisee – light front quarters with brown or grey hindquarters.  This is not Cou Clair or Cou Blanc as these terms are reserved for animals with black hindquarters.

ANY VARIATION IN THE ABOVE PATTERNS BROKEN WITH WHITE SHOULD BE DESCRIBED AS A BROKEN PATTERN SUCH AS “BROKEN COU BLANC”