Читать книгу Horse Economics - Vera Kurskaya - Страница 43

Unlike colors due to the Silver gene, champagne colors are absent in breeds in Russia and Europe. They are found in a limited number of breeds: the American Cream Draft, Tennessee Walking Horse, Missouri Fox Trotter, Quarter Horse, Paint Horse, Appaloosa, Rocky Mountain Horse, American Saddlebred, Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse, Racking Horse, American Warmblood, Miniature Horse, North American Sportpony, and the Mustang.

Horses expressing the Champagne gene have the following features:

 Specific age-dependent change of body color: The majority of foals of other colors is born light and darkens with age. In contrast, champagne foals are born with a dark hair and become lighter with age.

 Color of eyes: Champagne horses are born with light blue eyes that gradually become greenish, then golden, and finally amber or hazel (Photos 63–65). However, the process of pigment accumulation in the iris can stop at any of these stages, and certain animals can have blue, green, or goldish eye color all their lives.

 Speckled skin: Champagne foals are born with pink skin that darkens unevenly over time, developing specks. The skin of champagne horses differs from the skin of double cream diluted horses. It is dark pink, rather than light or bright pink in color. In adult champagne horses the dark, lilac specks are especially noticeable around the eyes, on the muzzle, under the tail, and on the genitals. Occasionally specks can be so dense they can merge together.

 Goldish gloss of hair: Not all champagne horses have this trait, and at the same time not all horses with glossy hair are champagne. Nevertheless, this is considered a characteristic feature of champagne colors.

 Dapples: Carriers of the Champagne gene sometimes have so-called “reverse” dapples—that is, not light against a dark background, as observed in the majority of dappled horses, but dark on a light background. However, not all champagne horses have such dapples, and reverse dapples are not unique to them. The International Champagne Horse Registry (ICHR—www.ichregistry.com) in the United States keeps records of horses having this color, regardless of their breed.