OKOTOKS, Alta. – The safe delivery of twin foals at an Okotoks ranch arrived like a hidden treat from the Easter bunny.
Calamity Cash Bar, a 10-year-old registered Quarter horse mare, successfully delivered a healthy set of twins on Easter Sunday at Widney Ranch Paints.
The birth surprised veterinarian Troy Borque and Roy and Ranae Widney, whose Paint stallion is responsible for the brothers, named Hewey and Dewey.
The mare was used for ranch work and has never given birth.
The Widneys’ brother-in-law, Clint Stokke of Pincher Creek, Alta., owns the mare, which has been at the Okotoks ranch for two years.
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Ranae Widney said no one suspected twins were on the way.
The Widneys raise Thoroughbreds and have ultrasound tests conducted within a couple weeks of breeding.
Borque said he usually aborts one fetus if twins are detected because multiple births are risky.
However, Calamity Cash Bar was not checked.
The mare was overdue by nearly three weeks and things did not seem right when labour started, so Widney called Borque for help.
One foal was born and the mare was still having contractions. A few minutes later, Borque saw another pair of hoofs. Both were born head first.
The mare was milked to make sure the twins received enough colostrum for the next 24 hours. Later blood tests showed they had more than enough in their systems.
The duo has not been supplemented with a bottle, preferring to nurse from their mother, although they have started receiving milk pellets and are nibbling on hay.
Bony and small at birth, the foals are thriving and at three weeks of age peek around their mother’s flanks before prancing around the corrals.
Dewey is a palomino tobiano and Hewey is red and white.
Live twin horse births occur in as few as one in 500,000 births, although they are more common among Thoroughbreds.
Borque said twins can abort early, may be born dead or have other complications.
“I was surprised she did not abort at five or six months of gestation. That is what usually happens with horses,” he said.
“It is unusual for them to survive and be that healthy.”
The Widneys also raise cattle and registered Paints. Calves started coming in February this year and the horses started to foal in March.
Eight mares have produced seven males and two females among their registered Thoroughbreds and Paints.
“It is exciting to have it happen. You always have problems with foaling but everybody has had a good year this year,” Widney said.
“Everybody is healthy with good legs and conformation.”
The ranch sells breeding stock and weanlings across North America, but Widney said the twins are not for sale and will never be separated or used for breeding.
The Widneys will register them as Paint horses and may have a DNA test done for the registration, even though they know their Paint stallion, Simply Cinnamon, is the sire.
