Imprint Training Myria Shipman, Dr. Frank Flanders and Asha Wise Georgia Agricultural Education Curriculum Office Georgia Department of Education February 2006

What is Imprinting?   Imprinting is a naturally-occurring process   Occurs the first few hours after birth   The newborn foal forms impressions and bonds; it is open to external stimuli

Imprinting vs. Imprint Training   Fear is a learned behavior. During the first few hours of life, the foal has not yet experienced pain and is not fearful.   This is a time when humans can expose a foal to certain stimuli or conditions that they do not want the foal to fear.   This process is called Imprint Training.

Imprint Training  Advantages   Eases handling   Enhances later training efforts   Reduces injuries   Gives the horse a solid base for learning later in life   Makes the foal more receptive to humans early on

Imprint Training   Imprint training is exposing the foal to objects and/or situations of which you do not want the foal to be fearful.   Examples: halter, clippers, hoof pick, humans, saddle, etc.

How does it work? Imprint training shapes behavior in the following ways:

1. Immediately postpartum (after birth), the foal bonds with the dam and with the one or more persons handling it.

2.Submission, but not fear: During imprint training, the foal cannot escape (its natural method of survival) exposure to frightened stimuli. As a result, it becomes dependent and submissive in its attitude. The foal sees the trainer as dominant.

How do you imprint a foal?   The first step is to get the mare and foal used to the presence of a person. Calm the mare so she is not nervous with you being around her new baby.   One way is to halter the mare and hold her loosely, where she can still see her new foal

  Rub your hands on the foal’s body in places where you want the foal to get used to you touching.   Head: face, poll, upper lip   Body: neck, withers, back, base of tail, tail, shoulder, ribcage, chest, groin, all legs, flex joints, feet   Cavities: mouth, ears, nostrils   Other: halter, clippers, spray bottle, bags

Important!   Do not rub the foal in areas that you do not want desensitized.   For example you do not want the abdomen desensitized because this is where a rider’s heels will be.

Expose the foal to objects:   During imprint training, you can expose the foal to objects that you want him to get used to:   Practice putting a halter on and taking it off   Turn on clippers and get the foal used to the noise and the vibration   Tap a hoof pick on the foal’s hooves

Important!   When you first perform a task, such as tapping a hoof, the foal may want to pull away. Keep tapping the foal’s hoof until he is completely used to it and no longer minds you doing so.   Perform each maneuver until the foal completely relaxes.   Repeat process later on to establish consistency.

Be Thorough!   Perform each task on:   Both ears   All four hooves   All four legs

Remember…   A newborn foal needs to bond with its mother and receive colostrum from the first nursing. Do not interfere with a foal while it is nursing.

The debate over imprinting…   Imprint training does have its critics.   Most of the debate over imprinting stems from imprint jobs gone wrong-   Horses that are too desensitized and no longer responsive.   Horses that were not fully imprinted (the person stopped imprinting before the foal was fully used to the object) and therefore respond negatively to the object/situation.

  There is also the question: how effective is imprinting?   It is impossible to test imprinting (every horse is different and will respond differently)

It is important to remember…   Always be friendly   Continue each imprinting task until the foal is no longer fearful of it.   Do not over-imprint (desensitize) your foal. This will lead to a listless, non-responsive horse.