Right after birth, the foal seems to have a sensitive phase designed to allow it to learn quickly and irreversibly what it needs to know to live among its family. Dr. Miller advocates using this critical phase to “imbue” the foal with good manners. The concepts of imprinting and imprinting were discovered in the mid-twentieth century by Konrad Lorenz, the father of modern ethology. The Austrian researcher noticed that the goslings that were born under his eyes, in the absence of adult geese, took him for their mother and followed him everywhere. He concluded that there must be a short, sensitive period during which the chicks’ brains “initialize”, like a computer when it is first used. This theory of imprinting predicts that this privileged learning period determines the baby animal’s identification as a member of its own species, and determines its attachment to its mother, as well as its future sexual tastes.
In chicks, imprinting also establishes song characteristics. Thus, a finch raised by seagulls may think it is a seagull, be sexually attracted to seagulls, and sing the call of that seabird, rather than that of its own species…
A sometimes hasty extrapolation concerning the foal
This notion of imprinting was quickly extrapolated to all mammals. However, furry animals do not seem to be quite as pre-programmed as feathered ones. In carnivores, for example, the imprinting period is much longer and less early than in birds. The imprinting also seems less irreversible in mammals. As far as horses are concerned, there seems to be a form of early imprinting between the newborn foal and its mother. Unfortunately, no considerable research has ever been carried out on impregnation in horses, so we only have very empirical notions. It is assumed that the impregnation phenomenon occurs in the first two to three weeks of the foal’s life.
A fragile link for the foal
It is known, however, that an orphaned foal raised on a bottle by a human, without any contact with its own family, ends up being afraid of other horses and preferring them to humans. Later, it may have a desire to mate with humans, which is obviously very dangerous. We also know quite well the process that allows the brood mare and her foal to recognize each other. The mare, for example, has a hypersensitive phase of one to two hours, just after foaling, during which she becomes impregnated with the smell of her foal. If she is prevented from licking her newborn during this period, she may reject him. However, the mare remains receptive for three to four days, which can be used to adopt an orphan foal. After that, it is too late!
The foal needs two to three days to learn to recognize the smell of his mother. He sometimes tries to suckle another brood mare who then pushes him back to his mother’s “skirts”. It also takes him several days to recognize his mother’s voice among other neighing sounds. The visual recognition is the last to be set up.
It is also during his first weeks of life that the foal learns to differentiate between poisonous plants and those that are good for him. It is therefore very important that the baby horse lives in the meadow with his mother.
To ensure the proper development of your foal, choose Royal Horse’s B-150, a flaked feed supplemented with forage and/or grass ideal for pregnant mares and foals.
Becoming a foal expert: The Miller method
Is it possible to use this sensitive phase, the impregnation period, to inculcate in an ultra-rapid and if possible irreversible way, some notions of good education to our future mounts? The American veterinarian, Robert Miller, has taken the challenge of answering “yes” to this question. He has developed a method of handling newborn foals designed to impregnate them (familiarize them with humans), desensitize them to various frightening stimuli and instill in them some early conditioned reflexes. For the foal to develop a strong bond with the human, Dr. Miller advocates extremely early handling, before the foal stands up. However, it is essential to give the brood mare time to lick her foal, so that she becomes attached to him. Only then can petting, nose blowing, etc., be undertaken in hopes of developing a bond with the newborn.
But Dr. Miller goes much further. He begins to desensitize the foal, before it has had a chance to suckle. The principle is to hold the baby down and manipulate it until it accepts them without struggling. It is essential to never stop the stimulations if the foal struggles, otherwise it will learn for life that it can escape from the will of the man. The practitioner must therefore be strong enough to immobilize the foal and determined enough to repeat the stimulations sometimes 100 times, until total acceptance.
Here is the list (not exhaustive) of stimuli to which the foal can be subjected
- manipulation of the ears and nostrils;
- picking up and bending all four feet;
- putting a finger on the bars to simulate the bit;
- squeezing the chest to simulate a girth;
- stroking with a piece of plastic with a noisy crumple;
- exposure to the noise and vibrations of a lawnmower;
- exposure to the noise of a vaporizer, etc.
During this first rough session, Robert Miller advises that the mother be allowed to look, sniff, and lick her foal as she wishes. Of course, there is no question of isolating the newborn!
After about half an hour of interaction, the foal should be allowed to stand up and take his first sip of milk (colostrum), which is so important to him.
A second 15-minute session occurs after the first feeding, while the foal is standing. Dr. Miller then desensitizes him to the passage of the girth, he straddles him (without leaning on his back) to familiarize him with the rider’s legs, he teaches him to move forward in response to a little slap on the rump, he gives him the rudiments of a single leg lesson, etc.
The next day, the vet repeats his impregnating strokes, desensitizing maneuvers, and early lessons. He then focuses on awareness exercises designed to teach the foal to walk in a halter, to move forward, backward and pivot on command… Once the foal is trained to walk in a halter, he is taught to stay on the tether for a few moments. During its first week of life, the foal will then learn to ride in a van, to follow its mother mounted on a turkey, to accept the spinning of the cowboy’s lasso or to jump a few colored bars. He can then be left alone in the meadow with his mother.
Reinforcement sessions are desirable once or twice a year, until the foal is broken in.
When properly applied, this method produces very gentle and obedient foals. However, it is strongly criticized by professional ethologists for the risk of disrupting the attachment process between the foal and its mother.
It is therefore clear that this method must be reserved for experienced riders with a certain strength. Practiced by professional breeders these techniques can be very effective. On the other hand, applied by inexperienced individuals, they can be dangerous and harmful.
