Outcome of tactile conditioning of neonates, or “imprint training” on selected handling measures in foals.
Abstract: Behavioural reactions to selected handling procedures were compared between conditioned, or imprint-trained, and untrained foals raised on the same farm. Nineteen randomly chosen healthy foals were imprint trained at birth and 24 h later (Group A). Twenty-one similar foals that were not imprint-trained served as age-matched controls (Group B). Training began within 10 min of birth and consisted of touch desensitization by gentle rubbing. Each tactile stimulus was repeated 30-50 times over 45-60 min, until the foal no longer resisted the procedure and appeared relaxed. The procedure was then repeated at 24 h of age. At that time a physical examination and blood analysis were performed to assess the foals' health status. Group B animals were not handled except for a brief physical examination and blood analysis at 24 h of age. Thereafter all foals were kept on pastures with their dams with no further handling until they were three months of age. Any foals handled for other reasons before that time were excluded from the study. At three months, each of the 28 foals that completed the study experienced the following handling procedures: acceptance of restraint, haltering, complete physical examination, acceptance of a plastic rebreathing bag, touching the whole body, intramuscular vaccination in the neck, intranasal vaccination, and deworming with oral paste. Response to each procedure was scored (1=not resistant, 2=low resistance, 3=strong resistance, 4=not possible without major physical restraint). Conditioned foals (Group A) were significantly less resistant to touching the front and hind legs and picking up the hind feet (P < 0.05). The administration of vaccines and paste dewormer and the collection of blood were tolerated by the majority of the foals of both groups with no or low resistance. It appeared that neonatal imprint training resulted in a learned behaviour that resulted in decreased self-defence responses towards handling the limbs at three months of age.
Publication Date: 2004-10-27 PubMed ID: 15501142DOI: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2003.12.008Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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The study examines how a method called imprint training, which involves conditioning newborn foals (baby horses) through touch, can affect their future behavior towards handling techniques. They found that imprint-trained foals were less resistant to certain handling procedures at three months old.
Research Design
- The researchers compared the behavioral reactions of 19 foals who underwent imprint training (Group A) with those of 21 untrained foals (Group B), who served as control subjects.
- Imprint training began within 10 minutes of birth and involved desensitizing the foals to touch through gentle rubbing. This process was repeated 30-50 times over a span of 45-60 minutes, until the foal no longer resisted and appeared to be relaxed.
- This process was repeated 24 hours post-birth. At this time, a physical examination and blood analysis were also conducted to evaluate the health of the foals.
- In contrast, Group B foals were only subjected to a brief physical examination and blood analysis at 24 hours old. They were not otherwise handled.
- All the foals were then kept in pastures with their mothers, without any further handling until they were three months old. Foals that had to be handled for other reasons before the three-month mark were excluded from the study.
Measures and Evaluation
- At the age of three months, the 28 foals who completed the study were subjected to several handling procedures including restraint, haltering, a full physical examination, touching the entire body, application of a plastic rebreathing bag, intramuscular and intranasal vaccination, and deworming with oral paste.
- The foals’ responses to each procedure were scored on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 representing no resistance and 4 representing strong resistance that required substantial physical restraint.
Findings
- The researchers found that conditioned foals (Group A) were less resistant to having their front and back legs touched and picked up compared to the untrained foals (Group B).
- In both groups, the majority of the foals displayed low or no resistance when it came to vaccination administration, paste deworming, and blood collection.
- The study concluded that neonatal imprint training seems to result in learned behavior that reduces the self-defensive reactions of three-month-old foals towards limb handling.
Cite This Article
APA
Spier SJ, Berger Pusterla J, Villarroel A, Pusterla N.
(2004).
Outcome of tactile conditioning of neonates, or “imprint training” on selected handling measures in foals.
Vet J, 168(3), 252-258.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2003.12.008 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, USA. sjspier@ucdavis.edu
MeSH Terms
- Animal Husbandry / methods
- Animals
- Animals, Newborn / psychology
- Behavior, Animal
- Female
- Handling, Psychological
- Horses / psychology
- Humans
- Imprinting, Psychological
- Male
- Random Allocation
- Socialization
- Time Factors
Citations
This article has been cited 5 times.- Rochais C, Lerch N, Gueguen L, Schmidlin M, Bonamy O, Grandgeorge M, Hausberger M. Horses' Tactile Reactivity Differs According to the Type of Work: The Example of Equine-Assisted Intervention. Vet Sci 2023 Feb 7;10(2).
- Mota-Rojas D, Bienboire-Frosini C, Marcet-Rius M, Domínguez-Oliva A, Mora-Medina P, Lezama-García K, Orihuela A. Mother-young bond in non-human mammals: Neonatal communication pathways and neurobiological basis. Front Psychol 2022;13:1064444.
- Gueguen L, Lerch N, Grandgeorge M, Hausberger M. Testing individual variations of horses' tactile reactivity: when, where, how?. Naturwissenschaften 2022 Aug 11;109(5):41.
- Budzyńska M, Kapustka J, Podobińska M. Alpacas' behavior during physical examination, and its relationships with health indicators and alpaca caretaker's questionnaire survey. BMC Vet Res 2026 Jan 30;22(1).
- Pereira-Figueiredo I, Rosa I, Sancho Sanchez C. Forced Handling Decreases Emotionality but Does Not Improve Young Horses' Responses toward Humans and their Adaptability to Stress. Animals (Basel) 2024 Mar 2;14(5).
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