I couldn’t get her bred last year and so I got an early start this year . Again she was a terror at the studs farm , the ultrasound says one thing but she doesn’t agree . When she finally did stand ( round three) she was inheat for 14 days … finally we administered a drop shot , she ovulated and i brought her home fully expecting her to be open after that fiasco … Well she surprised me and came up pregnant on day 14 , with twins .
As you might imagine I’m desperate to keep her pregnant . At this early point her embryos are touching each other and they’re so young anyway . My vet wants to re-check her in five and see if one is regressing or if we can eliminate the one safely .
I’m torn between doing something or doing nothing and seeing what time does . Shout out with experiences and advice , I’m listening .
Reducing twins is a widely accepted and fairly straightforward procedure.
Allowing a mare to carry twins risks the lives of the foals and that of the mare. Twins rarely both make it to term and are mature enough to survive if they do. It’s not responsible to allow the mare to carry twins “hoping” it’ll just take care of itself.
Here’s a good article about twins: http://www.equine-reproduction.com/articles/Twins.shtml
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I would go with what your vet’s advice is. Maybe you’ll be lucky and it will reduce itself, or the one will have moved a bit and be safer to reduce selectively. If not, well, I think you should reduce both (or try to reduce just the one knowing that the chances are high you’ll use both). Charming Facebook photos of adorable teensy twins, and human-interest newspaper stories aside, the evidence is clear that allowing an equine twin pregnancy to go forward is very risky for the mare’s future reproductive health, and risky for her life. Odds of getting a healthy, re-breedable mare and at least one healthy foal, much less two, out of the situation are really low. It happens, yes. Some people smoke a pack a day for eighty years and don’t get cancer; doesn’t mean it’s the best choice.
You can certainly give it a few more checks/a few weeks to see if you can safely reduce one twin. Trust your vet about when you need to cut your losses and start over. Definite no on carrying the twins.
It’s not unusual for mares who twin to resorb one of them during the course of the pregnancy. So a bit of Tincture of Time would be a Good Thing. But be guided by your vet. They have their hands on the horse while those posting here do not!!! 
G.
I am no expert but agree that twins are too risky and mother nature may take care of it herself, but definitely keep a close watch and listen to a vet you have confidence in…if it comes to reducing try and think of it as saving two lives rather than losing one or all three. Also you may want to move this post to the breeding forum for more experienced answers. Best of luck!!
Maybe I don’t understand what you’re saying. It seems to me that in order for it to be “not unusual for mares to resorb one twin during the course of the pregnancy”, there would have to be multiple breeders knowing their mares have twin pregnancies and allowing them to continue. No one I know does that.
OP, I agree with almost everyone else. Waiting a few days to see if your vet can then safely pinch one twin is fine. But allowing the pregnancy to continue with both twins is an unacceptable risk to both the mare and the foals.
Great thoughts . I should be clear that allowing her to carry twins was never an option . What I meant by giving her time is waiting as long as I can before intervening … but how long is that ? Less than 30 days ? With the hope that she might reduce one herself . Or as stated , resorb .
The article I linked above details the timeline you’re looking at.
Double ovulation is more common than you think. Especially in the spring when the mares cycle and grow follicles slower.
I have only had one or two that the vet has pinched one embryo and had the other one make it. Something about intervening with mother nature!
So I simply monitor a mare with twins. 9 times out of 10, one will absorb or the mare will spit both out so to speak.
Some signs that she could be absorbing one would be that embryo not being as clear on the screen, looking like it’s almost filling in, not black. Also, did your vet tell you what sizes they were? If one is a bit smaller than the other, there’s a good chance that will be the one to absorb.
Just moniter her. If it doesn’t take care of it by itself, a shot of lutalyse will resolve it but you will obviously be back to square one
Like so many things, “it depends.”
We’ve had three over the years. All were discovered at the first ultrasound confirming the pregnancy. Our vet recommended letting it go until a month or so later and see what happens. IIRC, in two cases they resorbed and in one case he terminated it. I don’t believe this in any way put the mare or foal at risk of harm. How much farther could we have gone? I don’t know and didn’t want to find out.
G.
Yes a good vet should be able to pinch or annoy one dot enough to expedite the absorption process. I forget the exact timelines but when we have done it we start early and one is usually on its way out by day 18-20. Refer to the above article.
