CHAMPAGNE SKIN COLOR -
OVERVIEW
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Champagne
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EXPLANATION
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Not CHAMPAGNE
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The skin on the udders of champagne mares is pink everywhere.
Skin under tail of champagne stallion
(all above are champagne horses)
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The pink skin of a Champagne horse is "pigmented
pink" -- not the pigment-free, paler pink color found under all white
markings of all horses. It will often tan.
The pink skin has ABUNDANT, DARK freckles.
(We don't call them mottles, splotches, specks or blotches, to avoid
confusion with other types of equine skin pigmentation.)
Champagne skin is this
color EVERYWHERE that there is colored hair on the horse. There are
usually fewer freckles under the main body hair.
It's easier to identify
--
and the most freckles appear -- in these places:
around the eyes,
on the muzzle, &
around the
private parts.
Left: various examples of champagne skin; facial and
private parts.
Right,
from top: Palomino skin - around eye & on muzzle, on chest, and under
tail; a perlino dun; Appaloosa skin; cremello skin; palomino
udder and teats.
Note: since the
discovery of the PEARL gene, this skin coloring alone is not sufficient
to prove that a horse is a champagne, since pearl and cream-pearl horses
also have similarly-colored skin. The horse also must have a
champagne parent (since champagne is a dominant gene.
Pearl is not, which is how
that gene, an allele/mutation of cream, was discovered.) The picture
below is of the muzzle of a PEARL dilute.
By studying the pictures on
this page, and elsewhere on this web site, you may be able to determine
by a visual examination, alone, whether your horse is a champagne color.
However, it's best to let an expert examine your horse, even if by
photographs alone, and look at its ancestors and any foals it has
produced. If all of that still leaves a question, there is now a
DNA test for it!
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The skin on the muzzle and around the eye of a mature Palomino will usually be dark gray or
black,
except where white markings are present.
Palomino horses with
sabino roaning
may have pink, mottled skin, as do the two above.
Perlino Dun
Appaloosa skin
Appaloosa skin
Cremello - click to see dark specks
The teats on the udder of a
Palomino mare are dark.
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CHAMPAGNE COAT COLORS
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Champagne
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EXPLANATION
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COMPARE
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The body, leg, mane and tail hair of a
champagne horse will ALL be "diluted" colors. Dilute is what milk does to the
color of coffee -- it lightens it. But not every diluted-color horse
is a Champagne (see examples).
Champagne horses often have
darker coats in winter than in summer, unless they also have a cream gene.
Left: an amber champagne, the result of
Champagne on a bay base. If you click on it to see it full size, you
can easily see that the points are brown, not black.
Right, top: a buckskin, the result of
CREAM on a bay base. You can see that her points are true black.
Right, bottom:
silver buckskin, the color above it with a silver (Z) gene added.
The skin color of the Amber Champagne is pink
with freckles; the buckskin and silver buckskin have black (dark) skin;
and, of course, no champagne parent.
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Silver buckskin
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Shine is not taken into account, because many
non-champagne horses' coats are extremely shiny or iridescent, and many
champagne horses' coats do not show any unusual shine.
Of course, champagne is not just a descriptive
name for light colors, either.
Left: gold champagne, the result
of the gene acting on a red (chestnut) base.
Upper right:
Lewisfield Sun God, a very shiny chestnut
Arabian.
Center
right: a very light-colored, shiny palomino.
Lower
right: a very shiny dark cremello.
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Reverse dappling is often found in Champagne
colored horses, depending on the time of year, etc. (Reverse dappling
is the appearance of dark spots with light surrounding "lacing".)
However, it also may occasionally be found on dun and other colors.
Left: champagne colors with reverse dappling.
Right: dun with reverse dappling.
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When coat colors are mysterious, one must look further to
determine the genetics of the horse. For example, compare these
two horses:
Left: an amber champagne mare
Right:
a "mystery color".
This Palomino
turned
this color
in his later years.
He has dark skin, and
DNA tests
prove he is a palomino!
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Left: this was once a mystery color. There are some Gold
champagnes with the unusual
"Dark
gold" coloration.
Right: red duns may look
a little
similar, but duns have
dark skin, and stripes.
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SKIN
AROUND eyes - DETAILED
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CHAMPAGNE
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EXPLANATION
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COMPARE
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The skin touching, and near, the eye of a champagne horse will be pigmented-pink
with abundant dark freckles. Though a few other genetic combinations
can produce pink, freckled skin, they're usually different in quality or
quantity (see examples at right.)
MOST horses have very dark (black or
charcoal gray) skin around their eyes, except for under white
pinto/paint/Appaloosa markings.
Left: various champagne eyes
Right: dark eye skin
typical of most non-champagnes
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palomino
gray depigmentation/vitiligo
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The skin around the eyes of a double cream dilute, like cremello or
perlino, will be a slightly different shade of pink, and have just a few
black "specks" rather then typical champagne "freckling". Compare
these pics to get a very good idea of the difference.
Left: champagne plus cream
Right:
double cream dilutes.
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both cremellos
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Often, horses with one cream gene will be born with pink skin.
It usually darkens to black within weeks.
Left: Champagne eyes, older and younger
Right: a smoky black
mare's eye with pinkish
skin and some "speckles"
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Gray/grey on a champagne horse often produces darker colors in both
coat and skin. Gray/grey on a non-champagne is sometimes
accompanied by depigmentation, or loss of pigment/color in skin on the
face.
Left: gray on champagne
Right:
non-champagne
gray depigmentation
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gray depigmentation/vitiligo
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Appaloosa skin, as we have seen above, has various degrees of
depigmentation. The pigmented part of a champagne + Appaloosa
horse's skin will be pink with freckles, in addition to the
non-pigmented pink areas common to Appaloosas.
Left and below: Appaloosa PLUS champagne.
The two pictures of the mare, below, show that nothing in horse color is
etched in granite... she really is champagne.
Right:
non-champagne
Appaloosa eye skin
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Sorry, already full-sized
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Pearl is a newly-identified dilution gene, believed to be an allele of
cream, which, in its homozygous form or combined with cream, produces
dilute colors with pink skin and usually more-muted freckles.
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Palomino + Pearl
Another Palomino Pearl
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MUZZLE SKIN
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CHAMPAGNE
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EXPLANATION
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COMPARE
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As described above, champagne skin is pink with abundant,
dark freckles.
Left: typical champagne muzzle skin
Right,
above: "pink-skinned Palomino" muzzle
Right,
below: normal palomino muzzle
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Left: Amber champagne
Right: buckskin
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The pink skin of a "double cream" (cremello, perlino,
etc.) is a slightly different shade than champagne skin, and it has sparse
black "flecks".
Left, top: gold cream muzzle at 4½
months. Look closely under the hair for the freckles.
Left, below: older gold cream filly
Right: adult cremello muzzle
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Left: Amber champagne
Right: Appaloosa,
gray
depigmentation/vitiligo
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Appaloosa
Gray
Thanks to Supanee Chaiwiroj of Thailand
for the pictures of gray pigment
loss.
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Freckled skin is much harder to
see through heavier winter coats.
Left: classic champagne
muzzle in WINTER.
Right: muzzle of a smoky
black
(one cream on black)
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Here is an example of why it's so important to use pedigree as well as
appearance (and DNA testing where possible) to determine a horse's true genetic color identity.
Left: champagne muzzle
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PRIVATE PARTS SKIN
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CHAMPAGNE
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EXPLANATION
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COMPARE
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Left: under-tail shots of typical champagne skin, mares
Right
above: under-tail shot
of typical
double-cream skin, mare
Right
middle: under-tail of
palomino mare
Right,
below: under-tail of
palomino gelding
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cremello
palomino
palomino
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As on the face, skin of a champagne that is also appaloosa will be a
pigmented pink color with abundant freckles, with typical Appaloosa
un-pigmented areas, also.
Left: under tails of
champagne Appaloosas
Right: private parts of
Appaloosa
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When it comes to UDDERS, some cream dilutes have pink, freckled, skin
around there, but the nipple color is dark on a single cream
dilute (palomino, etc.),
and light on a champagne.
Left: the skin on the udders of two champagne mares
Right
top: skin on the udder of
a smoky black mare
(one cream gene on black)
Right
middle: palomino mare
Right
bottom: private parts
of a
palomino stallion
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CHAMPAGNE FOALS
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CHAMPAGNE FOAL COATS
The first foal coat of a champagne is
sometimes darker than the adult
coat. Some are born the color they will remain; still others vary
from year to year. The following pictures show the colors during age
progression of a few horses of different champagne base colors. You
can see the various ways they can change from birth through adulthood.
They are shown in chronological order, with the
youngest to the left.
Gold (champagne on chestnut/sorrel):
Zillertal Atom
Amber (champagne on bay): Pocos Blue
Champagne
Another Amber: Champagne Ambassador, aka
"Ricky"
Sable (champagne on seal brown): California
Champagne, aka "Fred"
Classic (champagne on black) pinto:
Champagne Leap of Faith
Classic Silver (champagne and silver on
black) foal coat color: Platinum Stables Classic Thunder
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All champagne foals are born with bright pink skin and blue
eyes. As they mature, the skin stays a shade of pink and develops
freckles; the eyes turn "amber" (yellow-green to medium brown) over months
to years.
Some foals of other colors also start out
with pink skin and blue eyes;
so one must know what else to look for.
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CHAMPAGNE
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Explanation
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OTHER
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Chestnuts can be born
with pink skin and blue eyes, which turn dark in a few days to
weeks.
Left: champagne foal
Right: chestnut foal
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Would one of the people who supplied us with
pictures of pink-skinned, blue-eyed chestnut foals, please resend them, with
the note "for the 'identification' web page". Thank you!
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amber champagne dun foal
3 day old champagne foal
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Single cream dilutes - Palominos, buckskins, brown buckskins, and
smoky blacks, and the various kinds of duns are frequently born with pink skin and blue eyes, which turn
dark in a few days to weeks. Champagne skin and eyes do not.
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palomino foals
buckskin foal
palomino foal
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Here is the skin color progression typical of
many Palomino foals:
Day 1:
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Day 3:
_small.jpg)
Day 15:
This is a PALOMINO filly named Armisticia,
owned by
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DNA COLOR TESTING
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Horses can now be tested for most color genes to find out
their
true genetic color identities. This is very useful for those who
wish to breed for certain colors (or to avoid certain colors.) Several labs currently offer
tests for black (black or bay) or red (chestnut) pigment, agouti (bay,
brown or
solid black), silver, pearl, and cream, in addition to the three paint gene tests available
(tobiano, sabino-1 and frame/LWO). And
a champagne
test is now available!
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SOME RARER, NON-CHAMPAGNE DILUTIONS
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During the course of examining horses to be registered with the ICHR,
some horses were discovered whose colors could not be explained by any then-known
genetic color combination! They looked somewhat like champagne
colors, but several important characteristics were wrong.
When these unexplained colors were thoroughly researched,
they turned out to have distinct genetic signatures,
different from any currently catalogued!
There is now a test for the PEARL gene.
The founders and friends of the ICHR
continue to research unusual and undocumented colors in horses. We
suggest you join the ICHR list as a launching point to learn more.
(See Yahoogroups button below to join.)
If you still find it impossible to tell what is a champagne
color, and what is
not, after studying this page, just
remember: it takes years of study and experience, including some
scientific training (usually), to become a horse color "expert". Don't
give up; join the Yahoogroups ICHR discussion list (see button,
below) ; learn from the experts!
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* If the horse has also been proven to have two cream genes, or cream + dun on chestnut,
plus champagne, it may not
have many visible freckles. Any it does have may be rather pale.
Also, homozygous champagnes tend to have fewer freckles.
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Identifying the
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