February 2001

Imprinting the Thoroughbred Foal
by Leigh Ann Howard

Dr. Robert Miller first wrote about imprinting foals back in the late eighties, and since then the practice has been both embraced and maligned by horse people across the country.

In the January 6th issue of The Blood-Horse Deirdre Biles wrote about the "Imprinting Controversy" in her HealthWatch column. In Miss Biles' article are quotes from two veterinarians who have seen the results of handlers going overboard with Dr. Miller's technique.

Stress is the biggest enemy of a foal. The purpose of gently introducing experiences that will occur time and time again in a horse's life is to reduce the stress level when the horse is faced with these occurrences. If the imprinting being done on a foal is creating stress then it is being done improperly and should be stopped.

I believe imprinting foals, as done using good common sense, by experienced horse people, is an essential tool in preparing a foal for his future. What follows is a brief description of the imprinting done during the first few days with a foal born at Valley Creek Farm.

Everyone has to first understand that the most important thing that happens shortly after birth is the bonding between the mother and her baby. NOTHING should interfere with this process. Any imprinting or handling of the newborn must include the mother. The handler can be rubbing on one end of the foal as the mother is nuzzling and licking the other end. The foal should NEVER be separated from the mare's sight and touch.

Because of this, we pay very close attention to the bonding needs of the mare and foal while adding our own simple routine. We don't stick our fingers in any of the body orifices or insist that the foal "submit" as described in Dr. Miller's book. We don't hold the foal down. On average, it takes about 20 minutes before a foal is strong enough to get up and stay up. During that time we do, in fact, keep the foal up on its brisket by kneeling against one side of the foal's body, while rubbing its ears, neck, back, and all four legs.

Juan Lopez with City Doc's first foal.

During this same time the mare is also nuzzling and licking the foal all over. We are BOTH imprinting the foal. The mare is usually also talking to the foal. We are SILENT. Our silence is very important. The mare and baby need to hear each other, not some human cooing and talking 'baby talk'. I don't mind people talking to their babies later on, in fact, I think it is a good idea, but not during the first bonding time between the mare and the foal. This can be particularly disastrous with a first time foaling mare.

The second most important happening after the birth is getting the first milk (colostrum) into the foal before the 8 to 12 hour 'window of opportunity' closes in the gut. Because we don't like to leave anything to chance, we assist our newborns during this important time. We will discuss this in later articles.
So, the mare bonds with the foal as we are gently rubbing it all over with our hands, the foal stands and nurses with help and then both are left alone for the rest of the night. Actually, mare and foal are watched through the night but not bothered unless something is amiss. The foal eventually learns where mom keeps the milk and by morning the two are well bonded and any handling from that point on probably will not disturb that most important bond between mother and baby.

This is when we start gently handling the foal. We do as we did the night before, rubbing the body with our hands, then with a small clean towel. We also keep the mare close by, letting her watch to be sure we are not hurting her baby. We are now, fortunately, working with second and third generation imprinted mares so, often, the mothers tend to reassure the baby.

We place a tiny halter on the baby, with a soft cotton rope that loops around the baby's hind quarters (called a 'butt rope'). We press the baby up against the mare's side, lead the mare forward and urge the baby to go forward with his mother. If the baby gets frightened and starts to back up we can brace that movement with the rope around his hind end and get him to move forward without a strong pull on his delicate neck. 

The baby is led around the stall like that until he is coming forward willingly. At that point mother and baby are lead outside to the 'training trailer'. See photograph 2. Agustin Ramirez & Juan Lopez with the first Via Lombardia (Ire) foal.

By the time the mare and foal reach the trailer the baby is normally trotting right along ahead of the mare! Then he walks back and forth, in and out of the trailer, as mom watches. The discerning eye will pick up a slight strut as the proud baby walks back to the barn following this newly learned experience.

In the shedrow the baby will be held by the handler while the mare holder runs a little warm water, from the hose, on the mare's legs. The baby will see this and then will get the same warm water run on his legs and feet. This can be ticklish but 'mom didn't mind' so it is accepted and done gently and quietly. In photograph 3- John Detter's Pharisien (Fr) - Misterioso (GB) filly- you can see that this baby needed her tail washed. She was already used to the hose and warm water and readily accepted having her tail and rear cleaned.

We also imprint with a loud vibrating old sander. Years ago we used a large pair of body clippers but they eventually broke and we just grabbed another tool that made loud noise and vibrated to get the foals used to the sound and feel of clippers.

And we pick up and handle all four feet from each side. This is very important, as they will have their feet handled constantly throughout their lives. See photograph 5.
 

The toweling and grooming is another area where we spend quite a bit of time. We feel it is an advantage for a horse to be comfortable with the human touch.

Let me interject here that we also make a point of gently handling the foals' genitals. As the boys go through life they will need their sheaths cleaned regularly and the girls will have to have their mammary areas washed and possibly treated for infection. If, as adult horses, these areas cannot be handled safely, no one is happy.

We also lead them on both sides to get them used to seeing a human walking and standing beside them on all sides. See photograph 6-Faithful Mercedes with her Via Lombardia (Ire) foal.

Always, the most important issue is to NOT stress the babies. Don't scare them and force them to submit. What you are trying to do here is introduce experiences to the baby to show him that there is no need to be afraid. Let the baby see what the handlers are doing. Baby horses are very inquisitive and should enjoy their imprinting experiences. It should not be done any other way. The outcome will be to lower the level of stress throughout your horse's life. See Photograph 7.

Copyright © 1998-2001 California Thoroughbred Breeders Association