Should you imprint your newborn foal? What the research says

Do You Need to Imprint Your Foal?

If your mare is due soon, you may have heard that you should "imprint" your newborn foal. Let's look at what the research actually says.

What is foal imprinting?

In this context, imprinting refers to the intense, hands-on handling of a foal immediately after birth. Proponents claim it produces calmer, more manageable horses who are more accepting of handling. However, the research doesn't support this. Studies have shown inconsistent results on whether imprinted foals are actually less reactive later in life, and no meaningful differences in manageability have been found between imprinted and non-imprinted foals.

What are the risks?

Given the lack of clear benefit, it's worth looking closely at the potential harms:

• Disrupting the mare-foal bond. The period immediately after birth is critical for attachment between mare and foal. Research has found that foals physically separated from their dams for even one hour after birth showed signs of insecure attachment that persisted as they aged. Insecure early attachment has well-documented negative effects on long-term behaviour in animals.

  
  

• Risk to colostrum intake. Handling a foal intensively right after birth can delay the investigative behaviour that leads to a first successful feeding. Missing or delaying that first feed puts the foal at risk of not acquiring essential antibodies from the mare's colostrum.

  
  

• Tonic immobility. The imprinting procedure involves repeatedly exposing a newborn foal to frightening stimuli such as clippers, spray bottles, crinkling plastic, and oral and rectal probing, while physically restraining the foal until all struggling stops. Proponents describe this stillness as "acceptance." It is more likely to be tonic immobility (TI), an involuntary, last-resort survival response that occurs when an animal perceives death to be imminent. You may have seen this in wildlife footage when a prey animal goes limp after being caught by a predator.

  
  

• Flooding. Exposing an animal to frightening stimuli at full intensity without the ability to escape is a procedure known as flooding. Both flooding and the induction of tonic immobility are strongly discouraged by animal behaviour professionals due to the significant risk of creating trauma or other lasting behaviour problems that are difficult to resolve.

What to do instead

The good news is that there is a far gentler, and more effective, approach.

Research has shown that the relationship you have with the dam has a direct impact on foal manageability. Foals who observed their dams being gently brushed and hand-fed treats were easier to approach, investigated handlers more readily, accepted a saddle pad more willingly, and showed fewer avoidance and flight responses than foals whose dams did not receive this treatment. Remarkably, the brushing and treat-feeding lasted only five days, yet the positive effects on the foals lasted up to a year and generalised to unfamiliar handlers the foals had never met.

So rather than putting your newborn foal through an intense handling procedure with no proven benefit, grab a soft brush and some treats, and let your foal learn about humans by watching their dam enjoy your company. Allow your mare and foal to bond with minimal interference in those first critical hours, and let your positive relationship with the dam do all the work.

Final words? Foal imprinting is neither necessary nor recommended