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Champagne
Stallion Services
To find just the right Champagne stallion for your mare, or to advertise your champagne
stallion's services, please use
the buttons at left.
THE ICHR ENCOURAGES RESPONSIBLE BREEDING
An ethical horse breeder will never breed just for color. Before you
pair two horses, ask yourself if you'd want a foal from those two if it came out
a plain base color; for example, chestnut. Ask yourself if it would still
sell at decent price to a good home. Don't breed horses that will add to
the thousands, if not millions, that are unwanted and abused. Thank you.
Picking "the right" Champagne stallion for your mare
It is a true saying that "a good horse is never a bad color." But if you
want "a good horse" that also has champagne coloring, here are some guidelines to
help you achieve that.
First, two important definitions:
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Heterozygous for champagne:
has one champagne gene and one
non-champagne gene.
(Genes for every trait come in pairs in mammals.) (Most champagne
horses are heterozygous for champagne, since the gene is so rare.)
-
Homozygous for champagne: has two champagne genes.
(Every foal will be champagne.)
There is now a test for "markers" for the champagne gene (the gene itself
has not yet been isolated.) If there is a doubt whether a particular horse
has one or two champagne genes, this test may settle it. Check with the
lab of your choice for more information.
If you have a Champagne mare:
You can get a Champagne foal by breeding either with a Champagne or a
non-Champagne stud.
If your mare is homozygous for Champagne (two Champagne genes, one
from each parent), you will always get a Champagne foal of some kind, no matter
what color stud you breed to (100% Champagne.)
If your mare is heterozygous for Champagne (one Champagne and one
non-Champagne gene), you have a 50% chance of Champagne if you breed to a non-Champagne
stud, and a 75% chance of Champagne if you breed to a heterozygous
Champagne stud. Of course, if you breed to a homozygous Champagne
stud, you will get 100% Champagne.
If you have a non-Champagne mare:
With any Champagne stud you have at least a 50% chance of a Champagne foal.
If you breed your non-Champagne mare to a stud that is homozygous for
Champagne, you will have 100% champagne foals.
Knowing exactly which shades of champagne are possible from a particular
cross, and whether other color modifiers such as cream or spotting will be
present, requires a thorough knowledge of the parent horses' color genetics and
the ability to do the math required to calculate those percentages of chance.
You may wish to join the ICHR email list to ask its knowledgeable members for
help (link to list is below).
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