Eskdale Arabians

Twins!
2001

In 2001 we encounted something we had never experienced before and never want to again - a twin foaling. The year 2000 was a good season and the three broodmares expecting were having a 'who has the biggest belly' competition.

The winner was Eskdale Silver Limelight (pictured right) who was in foal to the Paint stallion Triggerview Starfire. As her due date neared we realised that something was amiss. She had an enormous belly, hanging down close to her hocks. Her legs began to swell as she ceased to roll or lie down. She began to drag her hindlegs and would stop and think at feed time if was really worth the walk to her feed drum or not.

Other than her size, everything else was normal and so we waited. And waited. Her due date came. Her due date passed. We alerted our vets that this foaling may be difficult. At 10am and twelve days past due, Limelight foaled a healthy bay colt in textbook style.

What followed was not textbook. Instead of a normal afterbirth, Limelight passed a redbag with a bay tobiano filly inside. The filly was not breathing. Wendy jumped to the rescue and began breathing for her. A vet arrived soon after and every effort was taken to try and save her.

The filly was the same size as the colt but more refined. She had normal reflexes but could not breath unassisted and could not stand. Her condition stabilised somewhat and the decision was made to transport her to the veterinary hospital for monitoring. A few short hours after she was born, our little filly passed away on the farm.

Whilst we tried to save our filly, her twin brother stood and drank unaided. He was healthy and robust from the beginning. Limelight was declared a very lucky mare to have carried twins beyond term with no ill effect.

Eskdale Double Dare at 2 weeks of age

The colt foal was duly named Eskdale Double Dare and later gelded. He never showed any sign of disadvantage and has grown into a stunning mature horse, combing the best features of his Arabian dam and Paint sire. Interestingly and in spite of being a twin foal, he matured to 14.3hh - a full hand taller than his dam.

Limelight was scanned at 16 and 45 days, but a twin was never detected. She had had two single foals prior to the twins in 1997 and 1999. After the twins Limelight was given a season to rest and recover and in 2003 produced a single foal from a repeat mating to Triggerview Starfire. In 2004 Limelight conceived two sets of twins. The first were an inseperable pair that had to be aborted. She then conceived twins again and with veterinary intervention a single pregnancy was maintained for a purebred filly foal by Cameo Marseillaize in 2005.

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	Twins! 2001 In 2001 we encounted something we had never experienced before and never want to again - a twin foaling. The year 2000 was a good season and the three broodmares expecting were having a 'who has the biggest belly' competition. The winner was Eskdale Silver Limelight (pictured right) who was in foal to the Paint stallion Triggerview Starfire. As her due date neared we realised that something was amiss. She had an enormous belly, hanging down close to her hocks. Her legs began to swell as she ceased to roll or lie down. She began to drag her hindlegs and would stop and think at feed time if was really worth the walk to her feed drum or not. Other than her size, everything else was normal and so we waited. And waited. Her due date came. Her due date passed. We alerted our vets that this foaling may be difficult. At 10am and twelve days past due, Limelight foaled a healthy bay colt in textbook style. What followed was not textbook. Instead of a normal afterbirth, Limelight passed a redbag with a bay tobiano filly inside. The filly was not breathing. Wendy jumped to the rescue and began breathing for her. A vet arrived soon after and every effort was taken to try and save her. The filly was the same size as the colt but more refined. She had normal reflexes but could not breath unassisted and could not stand. Her condition stabilised somewhat and the decision was made to transport her to the veterinary hospital for monitoring. A few short hours after she was born, our little filly passed away on the farm. Whilst we tried to save our filly, her twin brother stood and drank unaided. He was healthy and robust from the beginning. Limelight was declared a very lucky mare to have carried twins beyond term with no ill effect. Eskdale Double Dare at 2 weeks of age The colt foal was duly named Eskdale Double Dare and later gelded. He never showed any sign of disadvantage and has grown into a stunning mature horse, combing the best features of his Arabian dam and Paint sire. Interestingly and in spite of being a twin foal, he matured to 14.3hh - a full hand taller than his dam. Limelight was scanned at 16 and 45 days, but a twin was never detected. She had had two single foals prior to the twins in 1997 and 1999. After the twins Limelight was given a season to rest and recover and in 2003 produced a single foal from a repeat mating to Triggerview Starfire. In 2004 Limelight conceived two sets of twins. The first were an inseperable pair that had to be aborted. She then conceived twins again and with veterinary intervention a single pregnancy was maintained for a purebred filly foal by Cameo Marseillaize in 2005. Back to Articles Page