Do horses give birth to twins?

To me the answer is confusing, you say it is "Yes" , but then you go on to say that when the twins are discovered the owners have one of the embryos removed. When you make that statement you change the answer because the mare is not carrying twins anymore. So to me the answer should be "Only wild horses" since they don't have owners to change the outcome of their pregnencies.

In horses, twin fetuses are uncommon. Carrying them to term is even more unusual, and birthing healthy twin foals is especially unlikely. “Twin pregnancies are extremely undesirable in horses, as they almost always have a bad outcome,”

Technically - if it ever happens - the answer must be "yes", in spite of it being extremely unusual. Better wording of the question and different options for answers would improve this.

Answer should be know as twins are neither viable nor the norm. They are an infrequent occurance that more often than not has a tragic outcome for all involved.

Tony Gratton, farm boy might look at this differently.

In horses, twin fetuses are uncommon. Carrying them to term is even more unusual, and birthing healthy twin foals is especially unlikely. “Twin pregnancies are extremely undesirable in horses, as they almost always have a bad outcome,”

You'd have better luck winning the grand prize in a National lottery than having the successful birth of twin foals.

Completely inadequate explanation.

It's very rare for a mare to carry two foals. Most of the time she will spontaneously abort or if carried to time usually one foal will die.

Agree with Vince savage. There is a 1 in 10, 000 chance of carrying twin foals to term and so the question and answer do NOT match. Can would have been better wording. The whole thing is a mess!

Rubbish question! It is technically possible for a horse to give birth to twins but as it’s so dangerous due to lack of space in the womb and the fact that foals have really long legs and this can cause birth complications and/or fatalities, the vet at a stud farm would terminate one of the pregnancies so only a single foal would be born. As wild horses may not get veterinary care twins would be more likely but very risky to mare and foal. So although mares can give birth to twins - they don’t!

Never heard of this !

Interesting Q and A.

The simple fact is that virtually every time a mare gives birth to twins, both foals will die and usually the mother does too. They CAN give birth to twins, but they DON'T.

Veronica Luby-Hoey, a male horse is a stallion or a gelding (a fixed male)

Conceiving twins is extremely rare in horses, about a 1 in 10,000 chance, and twins that survive birth are rarer still.