The mare had been in and out of labor for the previous couple of days, so she expected to see a foal next to her daughter's horse.

The sire, A Little Legacy owned by Kim Smith in DeLeon Springs, is a black-and-white homozygous paint -- which means he passes his color onto his offspring -- so she even expected to see a couple of spots.

What she didn't expect to see were two foals.

"I called Vicki (Wolke, her daughter) right away," Tatum said. "We'd all been here the night before -- we thought she'd foal on Easter -- and she asked if there was a baby. She about died when I told her she had two."

Twin pregnancies in horses are rare and twin foals are rarer.

"Less than 1 percent would be multiples that survive," said Dr. Sheryl King, an equine reproduction specialist, professor and director of Equine Studies at Southern Illinois University. "Usually one dies. It's very rare for both of them to make it."

Wolke's grandmother, Patsy Tatum, has owned Little Creek Ranch -- the foals' birthplace -- for more than 40 years, breeding and barrel racing horses with her children and grandchildren.

"We had no idea she was having twins," the family matriarch said. "We've never had twins and we've never known anyone who had twins."

Wolke is thrilled with Lilly the filly and the colt named Champ.

In 2002, her mare, now 19, had a stillborn.

"We tried for a paint before, and didn't get one. She miscarried before, so I would have been happy to have one more healthy one," said Wolke, a DeLand resident. She also owns a 2-year-old -- Fancy's Little Runner -- who is away from the property for saddle training.

After surviving the first three days, the foals' long-term prognosis is good, King said Thursday.

Champ earned his name, Wolke said. "He was the weaker one and couldn't stand when he was born. But he's come through this whole thing like a champ. I thought Fancy would foal on Easter, so I had been thinking about the name Lilly anyway."

Kathy Tatum milked Fancy and fed Champ his first meal by bottle.

"After that, I held him up to her every couple of hours to nurse," she said. "I didn't want to get in the habit of bottle feeding him. It's better this way."

Champ is up and walking without any problem and even followed his mother and sister out of the yard and up the road Thursday afternoon, which was probably good for him.

"As long as he can get plenty of exercise, I would guess he'll be just fine," King said.

This is the last time Wolke planned to breed Fancy.

"I was pregnant both of the last two times I bred her," Wolke said. "That way we'd be out of commission together."

The mare might be out of riding commission, but she has plenty to keep her busy -- just like any mother with a pair of toddlers in tow.