Gypsy Cobs ~ beautiful, loving, dependable, intelligent hardworking horses for all the family
Gypsy Cob Horse Gives Birth To Rare Twin Foals
Rare Healthy Twin Foals Born to Gypsy Cob Mare Ivy in Australia
Ivy and her twin foals Zuriel and Gazardiel
© Surrey Springs Gypsy Cobs
Twin foals were the last thing that we (Murray and Mary Phillips) expected. We were stunned and delighted when our imported mare Ivy gave birth to healthy twin foals. Ivy had failed to conceive for the last 2 seasons and as an aged mare, was presumed to perhaps be past her reproductive years. She had been bred to The Paladin on the 31st of October 2014 but had a negative ultrasound.
The chances of live twin foals being born is said to be 1 in 10,000 and of those born many will not survive.
Ivy was paddocked with The Paladin from the 2nd of April 2015. It was thought that her breeding days were over. Living with our stud’s aged Gypsy Cob stallion The Paladin would, we thought, be nice for the two old dears.
Ivy showed no signs of pregnancy until she started to bag up in early October. Murray was convinced she was not in foal as she had not changed shape.
Ivy had always carried her pregnancies well in the past and never exhibited a large pregnant belly. This time, despite carrying twins she retained her usual figure!
On the evening of the 27th of October the old girl was restless and her nipples had filled. Testing her milk with pH strips indicated that she would foal within 24 hours.
I stayed up with her all night but no baby. Our mares all love being massaged whilst they are in labour. Ivy kept indicating that she needed a nice deep massage around her buttocks and belly with much sighing and wobbling of her top lip to signal her approval.
She’s a very demanding mare affection wise and makes her wishes strongly known.
I had to drag myself away at 11.00am to do some shopping in town and left Ivy in the capable hands of my husband Murray. I felt fairly confident that she would not foal in the middle of the day. Of course, that’s when she did decide to foal.
At 12:30 on the 28th of October Ivy foaled her filly closely followed by the little colt and was all finished by 12:55.
Murray called my mobile to tell me we had two new Gypsy Cob foals, a colt and filly both black and white. “That’s nice” I said “so Ivy and who else”? “Just Ivy” said Murray.
Being the calm, collected person that I am, I was totally panicked and told Murray to get the vet there ASAP. Murray, God bless him, had no idea that twin horses were rare and had little chance of survival. He was a cattle man and twin calves were no big deal.
Both foals were small weighing about 25kgs for the filly and 20kgs for the colt and on their feet quite quickly.
The colt was quite down in his pasterns and a bit more wobbly so Murray milked Ivy and gave him some colostrum.
Twin foals only 1 hour old. You can see that the little colt is down in the pasterns.
© Surrey Springs Gypsy Cobs
The twin foals were then stabled with Ivy, she was given 1ml of oxytocin every 2 hours to help her clean and put on a course of antibiotics as she did not pass the placenta until 4:00 am the next morning.
Our vet told us to make sure that there were two placentas – this was not the case. There was only one as the photo below shows – another very rare thing and no doubt contributing greatly to the fact that the twins survived past 7 months gestation.
Both were also over term and I am sure the bit of extra time in utero would have helped them be stronger than the premature labour most often seen with twin births.
You can see that both foals had close to equal room and access to the uterine wall, they also shared the blood supply as the placenta appeared “welded” down the centre.
Twin foals’ placenta. Instead of being two separate placentas their was one only.
© Surrey Springs Gypsy Cobs
Although the birth was very easy, with both foals emerging unassisted and on their feet quickly we still had their igg levels tested. This is something worthwhile doing for all newborn foals but essential if there has been any trauma or cause for concern. Both foals had borderline immune levels so were given IV gamma globulin.
Newborn care for twin foals can be extremely intensive often requiring admission to a veterinary hospital. Ivy is a brilliant mother and typical of the Gypsy Cob breed she had ample milk and the fabulous nature that they are famed for. She took everything in her stride and mothered both babies brilliantly.
I cannot stress enough how lucky we were with these two babies. It’s never a good idea to hope that you too may have healthy, live twin foals and a good outcome for the mare as the statistics are very poor.
Best practice is to give a mare a Prostaglandin injection at the early scan if twins are identified or to pinch one twin if possible to do so around 40 days gestation.
Older twins have been successfully reduced by specialist equine reproduction technicians using a method pioneered by Angus McKinnon. It involves killing one foal in utero by administering penicillin via an ultrasound biopsy needle into the foal’s heart, lungs or abdomen. It’s not something that I would feel comfortable about and don’t know what I would do under those circumstances. It’s best to avoid late stage termination and opt for early intervention.
