When we talk about miracle births, you might not always immediately think of horses in that context. But all creatures have surprising moments – and horses are no different.
In a turn of events that feels almost like a miracle, a horse recently gave birth to twins.
It is extremely rare for a horse to have twins.
While twins in human pregnancies are seen as a little bit uncommon, when it comes to horses, it almost never happens. Most of the time, horses have one baby at a time.
Only one in 10,000 horse pregnancies will result in twins.
According to CBS News, only about 9% of these twin pregnancies make it to full term. For comparison, the rate of twin births in humans is 32.1 out of 1,000.
So it was extremely rare for Tiki to become pregnant with twins. Additionally, the length of horse pregnancy is 11 months. That’s quite a long time to be pregnant with twins!
When the babies were born, they were both perfectly healthy.
Tiki gave birth to both a male foal and a female. The male weighed 86 pounds while the female weighed 59 pounds. Although the male was much heavier than the female, it turns out that the female was stronger than her brother!
That being said, they might not become full-grown horses.
And that is more than okay! These two had to share space and nutrients in the womb and were born smaller than the average for horses.
People now expect that because of their small size at birth, they will grow to be only the size of ponies.
The distinction between horse and pony just means that these two will likely stop growing at below 14.2 hands tall. A horse, however, is considered fully grown when it is over 14.2 hands.
The owners of these horses were ready for twins.
One of the owners spoke to CBS News and credited getting plenty of ultrasounds with helping them prepare for twins.
She said:
“They weren’t a surprise, we knew they were coming, because we did an ultrasound at 19 days, 29 days, 41 days and 72 days.”
Thankfully for quality veterinary care, the owners knew exactly what to expect and were able to prepare to help these foals grow up strong.
Some people have pointed out that this pregnancy can be extremely dangerous to the mother.
Horse Racing Sense confirms that a pregnancy with twins carries its own health risks for both the foals and the mother. Issues such as placenta retention, difficult births, and difficulties with nursing can all arise.
Fortunately, in this case, none of that seems to be an issue, but it is important to know and helps to highlight how much more of a miracle it is that Tiki had a safe delivery.
This mother horse is now a loving mother to two young foals.
Because it is not typical for a horse to give birth to two foals, the mother will normally abandon one of the twins and only raise one baby. But Tiki has been an exceptional mother to both of her babies. She lets both of them nurse from her, and this family of three is set to live happily ever after on their farm in Indiana.
Watch the video below to learn more about this incredible mother!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
