Imprint training of the newborn foal / Robert M. Miller ; edited by Pat Close.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miller, Robert M., 1927-

Contributor:

Close, Pat.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Foals--Training.

Foals.

Imprinting (Psychology).

Foals--Behavior.

Horses--Behavior.

Horses.

Physical Description:

149 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

Place of Publication:

Colorado Springs, Colo. : Western Horseman Magazine, [2003]

Summary:

Probably one of the most exciting and beneficial breakthroughs in equine psychology and training in the last decade has been the procedure the author calls "imprint training," the behavior-shaping learning process that occurs immediately after a foal's birth. Renowned veterinarian, clinician and lecturer Dr. Robert M. Miller researched, developed and presented these techniques to a world full of horsemen and -women eager to bond with their horses, understand them better and help them to live more comfortably and willingly in a world full of humans. Dr. Miller, like most of us, was taught the conventional wisdom that excessive handling of newborn foals would result in spoiled foals and the risk of rejection by the mare. However, in over 30 years of veterinary practice, he found just the opposite. Foals he was forced to handle because of obstetrical emergencies turned out to be gentle and unafraid of him later on, and they recognized him. Horses, like deer, cattle, sheep and certain fowl, are a "precocial" species and are imprinted by what they see moving around them after they're born.

Dr. Miller experimented with his own foals, maximizing their handling at the time of birth to imprint them. He added desensitizing procedures and later conditioned responses to create "imprint training," a technique that's now in use all over the world, with all breeds and other precocial species, as well. This book contains Dr. Miller's theories and techniques, including step-by-step procedures involving bonding, habituation and sensitization. He discusses how to properly handle the mare before, during and after imprinting. There are subsequent sessions detailing how to tie and halter-break the foal, and the added bonus of teaching performance basics that ultimately aid in under-saddle training. Dr. Miller also addresses problems and their prevention, plus the handling of special cases, such as race horses and mules.

Contents:

2 Bonding 16

3 Habituation 20

4 Sensitization 26

5 Dominance 32

6 The Mare 40

7 Immediate Postpartum Procedure 44

8 The Second Session 64

9 The Third Session 74

10 Teaching the Foal To Tie 88

11 More Halter Training 94

12 Advanced Halter Training 100

13 Teaching Performance Basics 110

14 Reinforcing Responses 114

15 Preventing Problems 120

16 The Race Horse 128

17 Mules 132

18 Effects of Imprint Training on Mares 138.

Notes:

"A swift, effective method for permanently shaping a horse's lifetime behavior"--Cover.

"Update information" chapter includes additions from articles in Western horseman 1994 and 1996.

ISBN:

1585746665

9781585746668

OCLC:

53371644