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  Discussion on Twins in a specific breed
Author Message
New Member:
Imperia

Posted on Monday, Feb 14, 2005 - 11:07 pm:

Hello,
I am working on an article about the occurance of Twins in Lippizan's. I am amazed to see your great knowledge on this subject and would like to speak with you about it.
I have found numerous sets here in the United States who have survived and countless aborted cases. I am publishing this article in our Associations Newsletter, but it is not going to be an advertisment, glorification, or invitation for anyone to go try to breed for twins. It is meant to serve as a grave warning to us Lipizzan owners that it is a real fact and we should be ready to deal with it should it occur. So the few questions I can ask in a public forum are this...
1. Do you think there is a genetic link that makes some mares more prone to twinning? I am getting pedigrees for all 7 sets I am investigating to see if one of our 24 mare lines is common
2. Do you think perhaps it is the long back, wide ribcage, and small size of our Lipizzans that makes survival possible?
In any case I would love to speak with you about this issue becasue we have much to learn in our breed.
It is an issue, it does happen...frequently, and for some reason our mares sometimes do handle it. I personally want to get word out to all 3500 Lipizzan owners about this possibility so that it DOES not occur. The results can be to devistating to all involved.
Please contact me at your convenience.
Also anyone who has twin experience and would like their story herd, and possibly told so that no one else must go through it please let me know!
Rebecca
Director Southwest Lipizzan Association
www.southwestlipizzan.com

Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - 8:50 am:

Rebecca you seem to be under the mistaken impression that other breeds never carry them to term, this is not true. Taking your questions in order:
1. The incidence of twin ovulations does vary between breeds so genetics are involved.
2. I am uncertain why there might be a better survival in Lippizaners and don't know this as fact. As you state you know far more that had a bad outcome than did: this is about par for most breeds.

For more on all this see, Equine Reproduction » Horse Breeding & Artifical Insemination » Twinning and Management of Twin Embryos.
DrO
Member:
Paardex

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - 9:51 am:

Rebecca we had horses from a family of Dutch warmbloods who tended to having twins. Yes they were big round mares and often carried the foals full term though ofcourse we preferred 1 big foal to two small ones. We had one thoroughbred in foal of twins who aborted at 7 months,she was big but like a greyhound no body and was at seven months pregnancy already so big it was obvious she couldn't handle this seemed to have no room for enough food any more, but she was old and in foal with twins after being treated with hormones to get pregnant.The Dutch warmblood family {I have knowledge of about 10 mares of this family] invariably were multi follicular{ hope this is an English word translating these terms is difficult]What I don't understand is why people still have these problems, we started about 15 years ago having the vet feel if the mare had one or two or even more eggs,problem solved don't cover or inseminate the mare with more then one egg unless there is a very experienced vet at hand who decides wheter there is enough time between the two eggs getting ready to inseminate on just one of them. Then if you get the mare scanned at 18 days and there still are twins visible who I suppose should be from one egg, genetically ofcourse also possible though as far as I know much less common, you decide whether you want the mare to try carry full term or have the vet try to get rid of one of them [sensible if the mare had big problems before] although often this does not work the pregnancy completely ends and you have to start all over again. But as a vet told me 2 years ago, look at the bright side with embryo transplantation you get two embryo's instead of one without any hormonal treatment.He seemed delighted with the mares problem though I didn't agree, I love one good foal at a time. These mares were without a vet easily recognised as they tended toe have long and often a bit extreem periods. If you don't want or are not able to go through these additional problems with breeding the problems got smaller in summer as opposed to early spring and fall inseminations most mares tend to have better eggs in late june beginning july then feb. march april.[better as in one big to two small] recognisable without vet feeling the mare in shorter period in mare, although this ofcourse doesn't guarantee no twins and the other method is almost 90 percent no twins.Hope to hear whether these actions are normal in the US to. Jos
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