Unbridled joy of the 10,000-to-1 miracle twins

RIGHT from the off, the odds were heavily stacked against them. Now these incredibly rare identical twin foals are being hailed as four-legged miracles.

Born at a British stables a fortnight ago yesterday, they are among only a handful of genetically identical twin foals ever to have survived.

The chances of this happening are more than 10,000-1.

Pictured here displaying their matching buckskin blanket spot markings as they happily trot about, the colts are both in good health. While one is currently smaller than the other, there is apparently no rea-son to believe that he will not catch up in the coming months.

Tania Mackee, who runs Gassons Farm Stud near Exeter, where they were born, said yesterday: ‘Horses are only really designed to have a single foal each pregnancy. For this to happen is defying Mother Nature.’

The larger one has been named GFS Shockwave and the smaller one GFS Masta Blasta (the GFS standing for Gassons Farm Stud). It is hoped both will grow up to com-pete in three-day eventing.

It is extremely unusual for twin foals – let alone for even rarer identical twins born from single egg division as happened in this case – to both be born healthily because a horse’s placenta is not efficient enough to transport oxygen for the two foetuses.

The usual outcome is for the weaker twin to be stillborn or survive for only a short time, while even the stronger one may fail to thrive.

Mrs Mackee said: ‘The mother had a routine scan at 14 days, as is normal with horses, to ensure that the foetus is progressing normally and there was no indication of twins.

‘We had no idea it was twins until they were born. It was a split cell pregnancy. It was an incredible shock when the two of them arrived. The little one came first. He needed aspirating to clear the fluid from his lungs and then resuscitating for the first couple of minutes and without the right equipment to hand here or those first precious moments I think we would have lost him.

‘Other than that it was straightforward... and the mare suffered no undue stress or damage. Within the hour, both the mare and her foals were standing and the foals were feeding normally.’

The twins’ father is GFS Fire and Ice, aged five. He is a uniquely marked perlino leop-ard spot stallion, believed to be the only one of his kind. Their mother is a 17-year-old bay Irish thoroughbred pedigree sport horse named Liosin Lux, known as Destiny.