Traditionally, it was always assumed best to leave a mare and foal alone for the first several hours after birth to allow them to bond together and let nature take its course. Recently however, we are beginning to understand that there is a window of opportunity immediately following birth to permanently affect the relationship between the foal and humans.
This imprinting process was recently made popular by California veterinarian Robert M. Miller through numerous publications including his book "Imprint Training." At one of his training seminars, Dr. Miller was approached by an Irish gentleman who said similar techniques have been used on his family's farm in Ireland for generations, and North American Indians also handled their foals at birth.
The foal is born with a completely mature nervous system. In the first 24 to 48 hours after birth he is taking in and processing all of the stimulus around him. Keep in mind that in the wild, a foal's survival depended on his ability to get to his feet quickly and be able to run from predators. His instincts must develop very quickly. The very first hour after birth is the most critical for imprinting.
When imprinting, the foal is held lying down and rubbed all over with a soft towel. Then the head is rubbed between the ears, inside the ears, around the eyes and muzzle and inside the mouth. The legs are flexed until there is no resistance to manipulating them and the bottoms of the feet are thumped repeatedly (about 20 - 50 times). A finger is placed in the rectum so the foal will not be traumatized later if an enema is needed or you need to take his temperature. The key to all this is that the foal is held still and the stimulus (rubbing) is continued until the foal is completely relaxed and quite before moving to the next part of the body. This process can be repeated with a plastic garbage bag, jar of marbles, or cordless running clippers (without clipping any of the hair). The halter is put on and off several times.
