This is so cool and rare!! ~Declan
Mare (20) foaled a healthy set of twins without any assistance
Written by Frank Farragher As posted on Connacht Tribune
ONE of the wonderful if rare sights in the equine world – a healthy set of twins and foaled without assistance by a mare of 20 summers.
Living twins are very much a rarity in the horse world with a very low survival rate, but here and there it does happen, and when it does there is no more pleasing sight.
Pictured above (by Sean McAleer) is Tommy Keeney’s Connemara mare, that last Friday morning at Doolhulla, Ballyconneely, delivered a beautiful set of ‘twin boys’, without any assistance.
The mare hadn’t been scanned – if she had, the veterinary advice would be to abort one of the twins – but nature took its course and the 20-year-old mare delivered two very healthy offspring.
The proud dad is local stallion Gurteen Cathal – the supreme champion at the Clifden Show last summer – and owned by another Ballyconneely man, Kevin Bolger.
“She’s a temperamental mare and was only covered once but she held and we’re all delighted with the outcome.
“This is not a mare to be trifled with. Only Tommy Keeney can go anywhere near her but she’s doing well and the three of them are a lovely sight,” Kevin Bolger told the Farming Tribune.
He explained that over the last 15 to 20 years, this is only about the fourth set of twins in the region that have survived.
“I suppose that nearly 90% of mares are now scanned and when twins are spotted, one of them generally ‘goes’, to give the other the chance of surviving.
“This mare just foaled naturally – without any assistance – at the field right beside Tommy’s house.
It’s one of those rare but beautiful sights in the world of horses,” said Kevin Bolger.
Pictured above (by Sean McAleer) is Tommy Keeney’s Connemara mare, that last Friday morning at Doolhulla, Ballyconneely, delivered a beautiful set of ‘twin boys’, without any assistance.
The mare hadn’t been scanned – if she had, the veterinary advice would be to abort one of the twins – but nature took its course and the 20-year-old mare delivered two very healthy offspring.
The proud dad is local stallion Gurteen Cathal – the supreme champion at the Clifden Show last summer – and owned by another Ballyconneely man, Kevin Bolger.
“She’s a temperamental mare and was only covered once but she held and we’re all delighted with the outcome.
“This is not a mare to be trifled with. Only Tommy Keeney can go anywhere near her but she’s doing well and the three of them are a lovely sight,” Kevin Bolger told the Farming Tribune.
He explained that over the last 15 to 20 years, this is only about the fourth set of twins in the region that have survived.
“I suppose that nearly 90% of mares are now scanned and when twins are spotted, one of them generally ‘goes’, to give the other the chance of surviving.
“This mare just foaled naturally – without any assistance – at the field right beside Tommy’s house.
It’s one of those rare but beautiful sights in the world of horses,” said Kevin Bolger.
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