Coteau Grove Receives 'Gift' of Healthy Twin Colts

Staff at Coteau Grove Farms in Louisiana received the gift of a lifetime April 3 when their mare Villa d'Este foaled not one, but two healthy colts by Gift Box  .

In the months leading up to the birth, broodmare manager Jacob Cyprian said the mare's size had them questioning her due date.

"We've been looking at her since January, we knew she wasn't due until the beginning of April ... We were like, 'Man, she's so big,' so we just started keeping an eye of her and started watching her," Cyprian said. "We never knew it was twins. When she got in foal, we always thought she was just having one."

"(We thought) the date could be wrong so we started backtracking, trying to see what was going on, and we were right (about the due date). When she started getting close, we just kept an eye on her and she was just getting real slow and real heavy. I said, 'Well, she's going to go soon.'"

When the mare went into labor, Cyprian was there, along with the farm's assistant manager. 

"The first one came ... then the assistant manager said, 'She's got another one,'" Cyprian said. "Sure enough, we saw the front hooves were coming out and she (delivered) the second foal. We were all just shocked.

"I got on the phone with the vet and when I told him he was like, 'What?' I said, 'Yeah, we've got twins.' He said 'Really?' I'm like, 'Really, we've got twins.'"

Twins!
Villa had two colts early this morning. Both standing and nursing

Sire is Gift Box!#coteagrovefarms pic.twitter.com/XEGoA8OzNC

— Coteau Grove Farms (@CoteauGrove) April 3, 2022

To Cyprian's amazement, both foals came out healthy and got to their feet quickly. The mare also recovered well. 

"The (good) thing about it was that both of them were strong. Both of them were fighting to stand up real quick. It shocked us all because it went smooth," Cyprian said. "Mama was a little weak, but after that she popped up and everything was good. We've been having a crazy season, and this just adds to it."

Cyprian said that farm staff will keep an eye on the mare and make decisions according to how she feels over the coming days, as decisions may need to be made to ensure that both colts get the nutrients they need while also keeping the mare in good health.

"What we're going to do is monitor and see (if she can take care of both foals)," he said. "If she can't, we're going to get a nurse mare for her to help her get some relief. We're going to try to make sure she gets everything she needs and we're going to make sure we keep these babies healthy."

Though this rare occurrence turned out with a happy ending, it is not typical of twin pregnancies in horses.

According to Dr. Chris Newton, DVM and shareholder at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., these situations can be very dangerous and usually involve veterinary intervention. 

"The rate at which mares twin is about 14%, meaning about 14% of pregnancies will have twins," Newton said. "Most of the time we reduce that, by manually ablating (removing) one fetus prior to 16 days ... And almost always if not checked, the mare will result in aborting the pregnancy (or) end up with a severe dystocia (slow or difficult birth) which could result in the death of both the mare and foals."

Cyprian and others at the farm are grateful to have their surprise twins healthy and in good order.

"When I tell you healthy, they're strong, nice boned," Cyprian said. "One of them was a little smaller than the other, but it wasn't any worse than a maiden mare with a baby. Definitely, they will make it, and will be some really nice colts."

Coteau Grove Farms, in Sunset, La., was founded in 2008 by Keith and Ginger Myers.  

Villa d'Este is booked to the farm's homebred No Parole   for the 2022 season. Cyprian said he is looking forward to the match but that they'll be giving the mare ample time to recuperate before she heads back to the breeding shed. 

"It's kind of a big deal for us," he said. "No Parole was our first grade 1 winner for the farm. That's our first baby that we raised to be a grade 1 winner ... We're going to give her time to recover ... What we'll do is monitor her real good and the vet is going to make a decision. When he feels like she's ready, then we'll go with it."