Photo credit: New Bolton Center
Cara Klothe of Walnutport, PA had a very big surprise on June 14 when her mare Blondie gave birth to twin foals- a colt and a filly.
Twins are a rarity in the horse world. Finding out that a mare is carrying twins is not normally good news. The result could be the spontaneous abortion of one or both foals; one foal could die and be reabsorbed or cause complications at birth. In the worst case both foals and the mare could die.
Because twin births are so risky, veterinary pregnancy exams routinely check for twins. If twins are found, one or both will typically be aborted for the safety of the mare and remaining foal.
Blondie went through all the routine exams, including uterine ultrasounds and there was no hint at any point that she was carrying twins. It is possible that one foal was on top of the other or at an angle that it never appeared on the scan.
“Horses are really not designed to have twins, it’s incredibly dangerous to both the mother and babies. Very often at least one, if not all three do not survive the birth. After breeding horses, I always have them ultrasounded to make sure the embryo looks healthy and more importantly there are not twins. Even though my very experienced vets scanned Blondie multiple times these sneaks were not detected,” Klothe said.
Klothe is a dressage rider, trainer and instructor at Cara Klothe Dressage. She has had Blondie, a GOV Special Premium mare, since she was just a few weeks old and has trained her to Third Level.
Her stallion, a GOV Oldenburg named Shavane, is a horse she had worked with when he was a youngster. When the opportunity to purchase him came up, she was happy to bring him to her barn.
“I purchased him last year. I rode him when he was a young horse when I worked for the breeder who owned him before. I haven’t really competed him since he was a young horse, but that will be the plan,” Klothe said.
The plan for this year was to breed Shavane to both Blondie and Klothe’s New Forest Pony mare. “My goal was to breed a couple of mares a year so I would have a couple to raise and sell,” Klothe said.
This spring, Klothe was in the process of purchasing and moving to a new farm so she decided it would be best for Blondie to go to Select Breeders in Maryland to have her foal. The decision was partly because this was her first foal, and secondly so she would avoid the possible stress of a late pregnancy combined with a move to the new property.
“I’m very happy I made that decision to send her down to Select Breeders,” Klothe said. “They’re way more qualified to deliver twins then I would ever be. I was relieved when I heard Blondie was OK.”
When the experienced staff delivered the surprise twins, it was immediately clear that they would need additional care. Blondie and her foals were transported to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at New Bolton Center where they received the around the clock care they needed to survive.
While a typical warmblood foal weighs between 75 and 100 lbs. at birth, the filly weighed about 40 lbs. and the colt only 30 lbs.
“The filly was a bit ‘slow’ and while she was nursing, she was not very enthusiastic about it. The colt was quite awake and eager to nurse, however he was so tiny he could not quite reach the udder. They were able to give him a little ramp so that he could reach, however he was still at risk of aspirating milk, so he needed close monitoring,” Klothe said.
Survival and nutrition were the top first concerns, but because they had been born before reaching full term the bones in their hocks and knees were not as well developed as they should have been.
To help, the foals needed very restricted movement for at least a week to help give the bones time to develop. They were given their own very small enclosure where the mare could see them while they could stay quiet and rest.
“Both of them are really bright and happy. It’s a matter of keeping them confined,” Klothe said.
At New Bolton, although they were apart from their mother most of the time, they needed to nurse at least every two hours, which required supervisory staff.
The mare and foals have been released and are now home and continuing to improve, but there is still a long road ahead.
The restricted space the foals shared before birth limited the room for their legs to develop. The colt in particular will need close monitoring for orthopedic issues as he grows, to ensure straight legs.
“They’re a little bit underdeveloped in some ways. The colt may have some orthopedic situations to work out,” Klothe said. “He’s certainly the smaller of the two. I think he was pretty cramped and pretty folded up in there.”
Klothe was prepared for the costs of raising a foal from each of her two mares that she had bred. When she was expecting her two mares to each have one foal, she thought she would keep one and sell the other. Now she will be selling the pony foal, but the twins are likely to remain.
“Now that I have these guys, I suspect we’ll never sell them. They’re our pets,” Klothe said. “They’re incredibly social. They’re very sweet - very interactive.”
Even though she allowed extra funds for unexpected emergencies, Klothe was not prepared for the huge escalation in costs to care for the twins, especially at the same time as they were purchasing a new farm. In an effort to find help, Klothe set up a GoFundMe account, which at press time had raised $8,700 of a $50,000 goal.
“I am extremely lucky to have such a qualified team to work with to keep them on track, however these expenses quickly add up. I am determined to give these little miracle babies the best chance to have a long, successful life,” Klothe said.