I think that articles and features about twins in horses need to be very careful to strike the right tone, and I’m pointing this out because the one currently on the homepage of CotH (I can link to it if that is a good idea) is not it. Although there is some description of the extra medical care the newborns in the article have received, there is entirely too much focus on their cute personalities and not enough on the truth that twins are a disastrous breeding outcome. People in general do not need photos of two cute foals that defied the odds; they apparently need to hear more about how incredibly bad the odds are for both foals and the mare herself.
You are reading far too much into an article that was not meant to be a puff piece on the joys of foaling twins.
The article in no way encouraged people to go out and try to produce twin foals. Twins can be missed by even the best veterinarian or reproductive specialists, and are a fact of life.
We are lucky that advancements in equine care help to produce a much more positive outcome when twins do occur and are missed prior to birth.
I agree that we need to be careful with articles about twins.
I get triggered by them constantly.
But, I also agree with @cutter99 that this article wasn’t particularly offensive to me.
I do think they should make mare owners share their current balance on their vet bills in the article.
Here’s the link, for the sake of conversation, in case anyone else missed it:
https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/mare-surprises-breeder-and-vets-with-twin-foals/
I appreciated that, unlike stories in non-horsey media, this story didn’t stop with “Yay, two babies!”. It explained the special care they needed to survive.
I don’t think this is the kind of info that will influence somebody whether to pinch a twin if discovered early. It just shows that despite the best of care, the unexpected can happen.
I had a friend whose mare foaled twins many years ago. All the best of vet care, though I dont know how advanced ultrasound was back then. Mare had one good sized foal and one tiny one, but neither needed serious vet help. She needed G names, so one was Gemini (of course) and the little one was GA Bonus.
I just don’t see how an article like this could have any influence on someone keeping or not keeping Twins.
First of all, if somebody has ultrasounds and good pregnancy care and protocol, the vet is going to freak out and Want to pinch a twin. And someone who is forking out the money for that kind of prenatal care is going to a follow directions be probably already know that twinning is a bad bad thing. As in this case, missing a twin as possible, and that could happen to anybody in any situation. This group was just lucky enough to be at a professional facility when the mare had the twins.
If somebody has not been providing prenatal care/ultrasounds and all the other goodies to their pregnant mare, then the twins will be a backyard surprise. It will probably be a big mess anyway, and it would be very unusual for all three to make it. So the article in that case is irrelevant.
I get that it’s a big deal. Especially to someone who has had to go through something like this. But maybe you can rest your mind that articles With photos of cute twins are not going to cause more twins to happen
The article actually says
““They were pretty shocked that both of them were alive and doing well, because it’s a pretty dangerous situation not only for the foals but for the mare,” Klothe said. “Oftentimes you lose one or multiple during the delivery.””
Sure, a lot of people will gloss over that, but this isn’t a breeding article that should be pointing out how truly dangerous twins almost always are
THESE twins were a surprise, with (presumably) all those goodies in place. If someone isn’t providing prenatal care/ultrasounds and all the other basic requirements for their mare, that’s a problem to begin with, twins just compound things.
I might have agreed more with most of these comments before the year+ I was consumed with being a (likely one-time) breeder of my now-yearling (he’s perfect, BTW). In looking for answers to my zillion questions before I decided which ones needed to be discussed with my vet, I explored many resources and discussion communities, mostly online but not all. I was SHOCKED at some of the attitudes out there about many aspects of breeding, and one particularly memorable trend was related to twins (hence the strength of my current opinion). There are an unbelievable number of people out there who give advice about “twins are a double blessing,” “your mare must be an overachiever” (that one even appeared in the referenced article!), and “let things happen the way nature intended.” In case it isn’t clear, I am saying all these people were suggesting that there should be no pinching or interfering in cases of confirmed twins. And this is without mentioning the folks who openly mention God or the sanctity of unborn life.
I’m not saying these dangerous attitudes are common on COTH, but they are out there and of course anyone can read articles like that.
oh yeah I see them allll the time too, usually prompted by the sensationalist news article (NOT an article like this COTH one) gushing over the miracle of twins with not even a hint into the dangers of it all, let alone how rare it is to have 3 healthy surviving animals, out of the 100s of thers who are lost.
“let nature take its course” is CRUEL when we have the ability to prevent a likely death (or multiple). Those people need to watch a lot more Nat Geo and a LOT less Netflix.
That’s why they should share the owner’s vet balance in articles about twins.
The “miracle” of twins will frequently cost you more than a new car or a down payment on a house.