and pale skin. Heterozygous pearls (one copy of the gene) often exhibit dark skin with some pinkish freckles, while homozygous pearls (two copies of the gene) have champagne-like skin. The freckles on homozygous pearls and pearl-creams are pale and muted. Prevalence Compared to the cream gene, which is widespread throughout many breeds on different continents, the champagne gene is rare and found almost exclusively among American horse breeds. Nearly all American Cream Draft horses are gold champagne. The champagne gene is also found in the Tennessee Walking Horse, American Saddlebred, Missouri Fox Trotter, Racking horse, Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse, Spanish Mustang, American Quarter Horse, American Paint Horse, Appaloosa and Miniature horse breeds. History The champagne gene was located in 2008, but is not a new mutation. It is widespread among American horses, and has likely been present in the genepool for more than a century. The Palomino Horse Breeders Association (PHBA), which registers "palomino" horses based on appearance, includes allowances for freckle-skinned and hazel-eyed palominos. Furthermore, while the registry typically disallows horses with pink skin, it allows American Saddlebreds with skin of any color to be registered. The PHBA was incorporated in 1941. Further back, the foundation mare of the American Cream Draft horse breed, "Old Granny", was born around 1905 in Iowa. Her cream-colored coat, pink skin and amber eyes are defining standards for the breed of her descendants, which are now known to be gold champagne. The superficial similarities between gold champagne and palomino, and amber champagne and buckskin, may account for the relatively recent identification of champagne as a separate trait. Gold champagnes were sometimes called "pumpkin-skinned palomino." Classic champagnes, which lack the primitive markings of true duns, were similarly called "lilac duns." The mare that brought the champagne coat color family to the attention of modern researchers was a Tennessee Walking Horse named "Champagne Lady Diane" born in 1969. A classic champagne, Champagne Lady Diane was described as "a genetic color accident" after her hairs were sent to several universities, although current evidence suggests that the champagne gene predates Champagne Lady Diane. It was not until many years after the name "champagne" was ascribed to Champagne Lady Diane that the term appeared in scientific literature. It was first studied and described by Sponenberg and Bowling in 1996. They studied the ratio of champagne-to-non-champagne offspring of champagne horses, and designated the causal mutation as the dominant Ch