Foal Imprinting. A Step Too Far?

[Tinker_Belle]

Found this link as wanted to find out a bit about foal imprinting & to be honest, I find this guide way too much.

http://www.majezticarabians.com/imprinting_a_foal.html

Surely it is best to leave things to the mare & foal as much as possible?

I just can't see how this would help. I know some human contact is good but this soon after birth is surely too much?

Towel drying the foal after birth? Bottle feeding the first few times?

Helping it to stand? I always thought that was best left to the mare & the foal should get up by itself as much as possible?

Really not convinced about this at all.

 

[KarynK]

Whilst I will not interfere in the birthing and bonding process unless necessary, as my mares foal out or in the field shelter I will help the mare dry the foal with towels after she has risen to her feet post foaling, and I will also help the foal to stand a couple of times to avoid unnecessary injury, I find once you help them they get the hang of it much better having had the incentive of being able to stand.

I want a foal born outside to feed as quickly as possible so I will support the foal while it gets its first feed, giving it the strength to find it's feet and guarding against possible infection. This gets the foal used to my presence and it does not then avoid human contact.

I will also rug a foal this time of year and therefore teach it pressure and release at a very early age, this gives it daily human contact and I carry on the contact throughout it's early life. On the day of birth or day 2 I teach it to step forward with pressure on a headcollar and mine are usually leading from a headcollar with no fuss by day 4 and will also be happily picking up feet by that age too.

My foals are not stressed at weaning or at any other time and are friendly yet respectful of humans, whilst I would never come between a mare and her foal, my foals are destined for a life with humans and are educated accordingly from a manageable age without a fight.

However I would not bottle feed a foal unless it was absolutely necessary, I can't see the point in risking introducing infection when all that is required is help to get to the milk bar. I think there are degrees of so called "imprinting" and as always some common sense needs to be applied, and lets face it some people don't have that!

 

[meridian]

I can see both points here.

I watch from a distance and review the progress of the foal - for example if it is struggling to locate the teat I will aid the foal as for it to obtain the colostrum is essential.

I only get involved if it is absolutley necessary as I find the mare and foal bonding process should be between them (two is company but three is a crowd) but you never know what will happen with any foal or mare.

Emma

 

[Willow1306]

We've just done about imprinting at Uni, as part of it we had to do a review of relative literature via. scientific journals. From what i read (which was probably around 10 studies in the end) i concluded that 'imprinting' is largely ineffective and whilst it may have short term effects in improving the foals handleability, post 3 months of age both handled and non-handled foals responded the same to stimuli. Although, to be fair, none of the studies were longitudinal and so results between 'imprinted' and 'non imprinted' horses throughout the backing process were not discussed.
The results also showed that the interference from human contact did not affect the foal-mare relationship.
Overall, the eventual conclusion from all the studies was that consistent handling leads to easy-to-handle horses, which is common sense?
I can't say i'm converted....

 

[Zebedee]

I towel them off quickly & rub their legs, ears, faces,& bellies with my hands. I do all this very quickly........I don't want the foal to bond with me I want it to bond with its mother!! I do want it to accept me as not being dangerous from the word go, & to accept being touched all over.
It may be coincidence but all my homebred horses are exceptionally easy to handle & are never any problem with the farrier or to clip, & are very easy to catch from the word go. Halter breaking them is also very easy.

(Haha...just read back the above........serve me right if this years foal turns out to be a right s*d !!!)

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

We didn't touch the foal whilst she was being born, and didn't rub her down (it was 8.30 on a baking hot June morning!) but the mare was a maiden and double barrelled the foal over a few times when it nudged her flanks, so we had to get very involved and touchy feely - the foal was a couple of weeks early, and took three hours before the mare would let her feed. In the first couple of days we touched her all over, pushed her back and over to one side a little, lent above her, tweeked her nipples, picked up her feet etc, all no problem.

Now she is 10 months old, and you can't get away from her, in fact as times she is a right pain! But, there is no malice, we can still wrap our arms around her (where the saddle would go!) and give her a squeeze, and she doesn't even flinch if you shake a bread bag all over her head!

As first time breeders, this may have given us more confidence, if we hadn't slapped her belly when she was very young, would I feel confident to do it for the first time now she's older and stronger? Possibly not. She is exceptionally happy around humans, and very laid back, and that's how I want her, as in two years I may be getting on her for the first time! She trusts us.