A horse deemed to be barren by a vet has given birth to twin foals. Sofie, a 13-year-old mare and retired international show jumper, defied odds of 10,000-1 to produce Fell and Vinnie, now 4 weeks old. Yvonne Bartram, her owner, who runs Elysian Horses in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, helped to deliver the first foal when another pair of feet appeared.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” she said. “The birth of twins is such a rare occurrence we definitely weren’t expecting it.

“Mares aren’t designed to carry more than one foal and often die when giving birth to two, so the mum has done really well.

“What’s more, when we took Sofie to the vet last year we were told she was barren and would never conceive again, so when my farrier said she was looking a bit heavy earlier this year I was shocked.”

The twins were fitted with tiny dog coats to keep them warm and Yvonne spent the night in the stable with them.

After two days the smallest foal, Fell was up on his feet and Vinnie followed two days later.

Although they are twins the foals look very different. “Fell, was the size of a cocker spaniel when he was born and is chestnut coloured,” said Yvonne.

“Vinnie was slightly larger and looks like his mum with a brown body and black mane and tail.”

Sadly little Fell has developed wonky front legs as a result of being squashed in the womb and now needs emergency treatment to have them straightened.

Yvonne is trying to raise £3,500 to pay for his care. In the meantime his legs have been put in splints and bandages and he is being fitted with special corrective boots.

“The vet told us the foal would need surgery to correct them or he would need putting to sleep,” she said.

“We have all put so much effort into Sofie and her baby twins and we will do anything to save Fell.”

“We have been told he has a poor prognosis and anything we try is a long shot, but the alternative is euthanasia.”

A spokesman for the British Equine Veterinary Association said: “Cases of surviving twins are incredibly rare.

“Normally, if a 14-day scan revealed twins, we would manually reduce the pregnancy for the welfare of the horse and to give the other twin a chance.”

Times Recommends

• How I lost the gift of joy for a while
• Why Ann Widdecombe has got it wrong
• Alas, it’s the end of the road for petrolheads