No one has ever seen twins before in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) corral.
However, when they went to check on Elsa, a wild horse who had lately arrived at the corral during a roundup, they discovered two little surprises standing close to their mother.
The powerful mother had given birth on her own.
CREDIT: SKYDOG RANCH
A horse having twins is exceedingly unusual, with a one in 10,000 probability. It’s very rarer for the entire family to make it through the trauma.
Elsa’s ability to give birth to two healthy foals without ever visiting a veterinarian was a miracle.
The BLM corral adoption staff realized the tiny family would require more assistance, so they contacted Clare Staples, the founder of Skydog Ranch, a wild horse refuge. “They were anxious about them surviving since one of them was much smaller and weaker than the other, so they requested us to remove the mare and the two twins,” Staples told The Dodo. “We were just ecstatic.”
CREDIT: SKYDOG RANCH
Staples traveled to Oregon to see Elsa, where the horses were being housed. Staples squatted in the dirt and promised her something. “I talked to her and promised her, ‘You’re going to get out and keep your babies, and everything will be fine.’ ‘Hang in there,’ said Staples.
Elsa was chosen to be part of a spay experiment in the corrals shortly after Staples’ visit – something that would eternally divide her from her babies. Staples begged the personnel at the corral to rejoin the family, but nothing seemed to sway them.
CREDIT: SK