PHILIPPA and Matthew Creamer were more than a little surprised when they went to check on their brood mare Missouri and discovered not one, but two, live foals.
The twins, nicknamed Bossy and Whippet, were born at 3am on Sunday, October 27.
“The little one weighed about 20 kilograms when he was born and we couldn’t find a rug small enough – the only rug that fit him was the Whippet’s dog coats – so we’ve nicknamed him Whippet,” Ms Creamer said.
“The filly, the taller one, is nicknamed Bossy because she does not like sharing her mother with a sibling.”
Ms Creamer said it a battle to keep Whippet alive for the first two days.
The tiny foal “had legs like spaghetti” and was unable to stand on his own.
Once he made it past the first two days, his fighting spirit kicked in, and he can now stand by himself.
The Creamers operate Holstein Park, a Warmblood horse stud, at Upper Tenthill, in the Lockyer Valley.
Ms Creamer has been breeding Warmbloods for the past 25 years and said 10-year-old Missouri has made a wonderful mother for the twins.
She said although the twins were not born prematurely, they are considered immature, because they have the appearance and signs of prematurity.
The chances of a mare delivering live twin foals, and the mare also surviving, is about 1 in 10,000.
In another unusual twist, the twins were naturally conceived from the Warmblood sire Groucho Marx.
Matthew and Philippa Creamer, Holstein Park, Upper Tenthill, with their cheeky foals. Click on the image to see a photo gallery of the foals.
“A mare conceiving twins is not uncommon so we usually have the horses ultrasound scanned at around 17 days but the twins were not picked up at this stage.
“I think the only reason they survived is because they both shared an equal percentage of the placenta.
“Normally it’s an age symmetrical sharing of the placenta, which means one foal is mummified and dies.”
The twins have some impressive relatives, with the half-brother to their mother Missouri, shortlisted for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
They are also related to Holstein Park Leilani, who competed in the London 2012 Olympic Games, and was ridden by Christopher Burton, from Jandowae. The pair also won the Aachen’s DHL Prize for eventing in Germany earlier this year.
For the next six weeks, the twins will be confined to the stable while their bones strengthen.
They will then be let out for a few hours each day, which will progress until they are outside all the time.
Bossy the filly is expected to be kept for breeding and Whippet the colt will be sold as a competition horse.
Ms Creamer’s love of horses came from her father, who was a jockey at Newmarket in London.
She used to ride competitively but nowadays her focus is on breeding.
“I’ve always had horses, pony clubs and the normal things, and then I progressed to dressage, which was my main interest, hence I picked the Warmblood horse.
“They are such a beautiful, gentle breed.”