The birth of a child is always a special event and it is one that we may look forward to for months. When a human baby is born, it often is celebrated by the entire family, including extended members of the family such as the grandparents, aunts, and uncles. It is also incredible when an animal gives birth and many animals tend to give birth to large litters. For example, it might not be out of the question for a dog to have half a dozen puppies but not every animal gives birth to multiple young.
That is the case with horses. Most people don’t know that horses tend to give birth to one young and having twins is a rather rare scenario. When it does happen, it sometimes takes the caregivers by surprise. After all, less than 1% of all births of twin foals are successful. Unfortunately, multiple births of horses often lead to birth problems and many of the young do not survive. If they are given proper care, however, they may have an opportunity to come out of it alive and even thrive as they get older.
In the video below, you can see Princess, a horse that gave birth to twin foals in 2009. Those young horses, William and Henry had some problems after they were born. In order to come through those medical issues, the caregivers had to give care 24 hours a day and give them all of the extra care they needed.
William and Henry spent three weeks at the University of Minnesota’s College of veterinary medicine. Fortunately, they were able to get the care that they needed and they were able to survive. A year later, both of those horses were happy and healthy. In fact, you can see them for yourself in the video below.
