Perfection's Champagne Callalily

Five Hills Farm

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Perfection's Champagne Callalily

Callie

When I went to look at Callie she was advertised as a buckskin. I was amazed, and thrilled to find a Champagne when I arrived.

Callie Feelin' Good

No, your eyes are not messing with you. Champagne is a rare color in horses and extremely rare in mules. Callie was not registered as a MFT because her dam was not registered. Her sire is Perfection's Black Magic B and because of that and her height at 14 hands, she may qualify for registration as a MFT pony. We still need to have her DNA tested and video her foxtrotting to complete the necessary requirements. She will alternately have mule foals and MFT pony foals for us, too bad there are not two of her! She is quite the Chameleon at times. The Champagne coats are like that, they change with the seasons, with the lighting, the weather and who knows what else, probably her mood!

All sorts of changes as you can see in the photo's below of Callie, and her mule foal, Tessa. If you would like to learn more about this rare horse coat color, please visit:

The International Champagne Horse Registry (ICHR)- www.ichregistry.com .

Callie - January 2008/winter coat color

Callie - June 2007 - Summer coat

Callie in 2008, late summer

Callie was be bred in 2009 to Studley for a gaited pony for 2010, email me if you would like to be added to the list to be notified when she foals. This foal will make an excellent cross to a registered MFT horse for a registered MFT Pony. The foal would be expected to mature at about 12.2 to 13 hands and there's a 75% chance the foal will be homozygous for champage and possibly homozygous for black as well.

A great horse does not have to be a plain color

Callie in May 2009

Champagne Education

Perfections Champagne Callalily and Tessa

Callie was color tested by UC Davis as well as Pet DNA of Arizona. She has a heterozygous black base and the champagne gene so she is Classic Champagne. She was also part of the study at the University of Kentucky and has her Certificate to prove she is Champagne. There are a lot of breeders who try to pass their horses off as Champagne but now that there is a test, you can be assured that our Champagnes are tested and verified.

Newborn Tessa

Tessa as a newborn

Tessa as a newborn foal

This page has more photo's simply because there is so much more to the champagne color. There are certain characteristics and some of these are illustrated here. If you have a horse, mule or miniature that you feel may be champagne, send me an email with a pedigree and photo's and I'll try to help. As you can see, this color can change with the seasons as well as appear totally different in different lighting. Callie's base color is black and Tessa's base color is bay.

The University of Kentucky used all 4 of our champagnes in their study to discover the genetics for the champagne color.

Tragedy struck us when we sent Tessa to a trainer to start her under saddle. Because the Humane Society State Investigators did not show up for 3 weeks after being notified by our local Sheriff's department and several calls for help from me, there was not sufficient evidence collected to charge the trainer. She was humanely euthanized at the University of Missouri Veterinary Hospital as a result of the injuries she sustained at the hands of these "so-called trainers".

Tessa 3 weeks before going to trainer

Tessa is 3.5 years old here

Tessa blue eyes at birth

Please be sure to visit the ICHR website for more information about the champagne genetics and visit Tessa and TJ's page for more photo's

Tessa's eye at 3 months, green/hazel

Tessa's eye at 20 months - Amber

ICHR Web Site

Please visit the International Champagne Horse Registry Web Site for more information on this beautiful color gene.

We don't consider our mules, horses and ponies a business, it's all pleasure.