Michael and Nathalie Pollard, Dalton, Ga., welcomed twins into the world on April 18. Sebastian Packard Pollard and Sterling Aurora Pollard are the newest members of the Pollard family. Older brother Phineas, 21 months, was excited about his new brother and sister.

Michael was competing at the Florida International CCI in Ocala, Fla., when he received a call from Nathalie.

“I called him and said ‘I’m having contractions. You should probably head this way,’ ” recalled Nathalie. Unfortunately, Michael couldn’t make the seven-hour drive fast enough and arrived two hours after Sebastian’s birth at 5:38 and Sterling’s at 5:39.

“He was on the phone with his dad the whole time getting a play-by-play,” Nathalie said.

Michael spent the next day with his new family, but he had to leave early on April 20 to prepare for Rolex Kentucky.

Nathalie left the hospital on the first day of the event and set up the live feed straight to her TV so she could watch Michael compete.

“I was watching the cross-country and saw Michael start and his first two fences, and then the next time I saw him he was lying in the water. The first thing I thought was, ‘Great! Now he can come home!’

“Well, there were mixed emotions,” she clarified with a laugh.

Nathalie has already returned to the saddle and hopes to compete in a two-star event this fall. “It’s been a long time,” she said. “I stopped riding in December, so it will take a while to build back the muscles and stamina. I haven’t competed in more than three years.”

Michael and Nathalie met in 1997 when they were both still in high school. They were married in July 2004 in the indoor arena at her family farm.