Gold champagne

Gold champagne: how the color works and is inherited

Gold champagne is Champagne dilution on a chestnut base. The SLC36A1 variant lightens red pigment toward gold and also changes the horse’s skin and eye color.

One Champagne variant copy is enough for dilution. A horse with one copy passes it on with a one-in-two chance; with two copies, it always passes one on. The chestnut base gives the name gold champagne.

Gold champagne: origins and the role of breeding

Champagne comes from a naturally occurring SLC36A1 variant whose role was identified in 2008. That is the date of the scientific discovery, rather than the birth of the first champagne horse: the variant’s original appearance has not been dated. The same variant is inherited in several breeds, including Tennessee Walking Horses and Quarter Horses.

Breeders can select a chestnut base together with Champagne to obtain gold champagne. Mating passes on an existing parental variant rather than creating Champagne dilution.

• Cook et al. (2008) — Missense Mutation in Exon 2 of SLC36A1 Responsible for Champagne Dilution in Horses