Watching one mare foaling is a magical moment, but for Marti Rudd and her husband Tomas Doyle at Monbeg Sport Horses, they had the joy — and rare sight — of watching two of their broodmares foal next to each other within the space of 10 minutes.
“Timmy was overdue by two weeks and had shown no signs of foaling,” explains Marti. “I had checked Nancy the night before and she looked close to foaling.
“At 5am the following morning, Tomas went out to the field to check them and, when he didn’t come back, I went out too and saw Nancy had just foaled.”
While the other broodmares showed some interest, Timmy stood over watching intently and, at one point, even licked Nancy’s newborn colt foal.
“It was unusual for Nancy to let all the other mares come and say ‘hello’, but then Timmy got down right next to them and had her foal, another lovely, big colt,” adds Marti. “Nancy and Timmy are incredibly close friends, but I doubt we’ll ever see something like this again — at one stage we thought they were going to swap foals!”
Quite a rare sight at dawn this morning, Nancy had a lovely big colt foal and while it was unusual enough that she let all the other mares come and say hi, Timmy then got down right next to them and had hers, another lovely big colt foal! Nancy and Timmy are incredibly close friends but I doubt we’ll ever see something like this again. At one stage we thought they were going to swap!! Very happy @raegan.olson got to see it happen too and she didn’t mind one bit being woken at 5.30am ?? Also very glad @tomas.monbeg realised there was a leg in the wrong place with Timmy’s foal and got it sorted very quick and my father-in-law Mike was down to us within minutes of me calling him for help. #bestmidwives #oneborneveryminute #monbegbabies #raresighting #breakofdawn
Posted by Monbeg Sport Horses on Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Tomas noticed Timmy’s foal had a leg in the wrong position during the birth, but it was sorted quickly and both colt foals were born happy and healthy.
“Nancy’s foal even tried to suckle off Timmy, at which point we had to intervene,” says Marti.
Article continues below…
You might also be interested in:
Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round
The two broodmares, who are both 17 years old, have recovered well after the births and have remained in the large field in which they foaled.
“When the weather is nice, we always leave the broodmares out in the field together. It is a lovely big field and they seem happiest in the natural environment,” adds Marti, who has yet to name the two very cute newborns.
The new arrivals will eventually be broken in at the couple’s base in County Wexford in Ireland, before being sold or competed by Tomas in young horse showjumping classes.
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.
