Old Pregnant Mare Beats The Odds To Give Birth To ‘Rare’ Healthy Twin Foals

The sight of twins in the equine world may be uncommon to see, in contrast to twins in the human world.

Approximately one in 10,000 mares will get pregnant with twins, compared to only three in every 100 humans. Of those mares who do become pregnant with twins, only about nine percent will carry to term.

So when a 16-year-old American Paint horse called Tiki gave birth to twin foals, the arrivals attracted national attention.

In 2011, these adorable foals were born healthy at the Conley and Koontz Equine Hospital in Columbia City, Indiana by this sweet older mom. She was closely monitored by the Mason family throughout her pregnancy.

In the Huntington County Tab, it is reported that a 86-pound colt was born five minutes before midnight, healthy as a horse could be. A 59-pound filly was born 10 minutes after midnight, according to the newspaper. Although the filly was the smaller of the two, Laura Mason claims she was the stronger — she walked around 10 minutes after birth.

Tiki was watched closely by her owners because it’s not uncommon for mares of twin foals to abandon one of their babies, but Tiki never abandoned Woodcock Pocket and Charming Opal.