This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Lori Albrough <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I've been wanting to raise the subject of imprint training baby > fjords. I mentioned it at the Sunday chat and someone said they've > heard about good results and bad. I've been doing it with my filly, > not following Dr. Robert Miller's book 100%, but fairly closely (I > waited till she had been up and nursed and had a nap, etc) and it > seems great so far. Anyone else??? I guess I'm wondering if there are > any hidden downsides.
The subject of "imprinting" came up on the LONGEARS list a couple of months ago. One woman who had corresponded extensively with Dr Miller on the subject indicated that he now wishes he hadn't called it that. When it's done right, or when it's done reasonably well on a subservient foal, things are fine. He has heard about a fair number of problems that have arisen when it's done wrong, particularly on a foal with a "pushy" personality. It seems that the major problem comes about when people forget (or don't realize) that it's imprint TRAINING. The object is to lay a foundation for all the rest of the training the foal will receive. The foal needs to learn that he must respect you, that you can do whatever you want to him, and that he can't make you do anything, e.g. you won't go away just because he doesn't like what you're doing. Apparently, too many people are taking imprinting as a license to play games with their foals, and in the process, are teaching the foals that foals can push people around. A classic example is someone who sends Dr Miller a photo of the foal laying on their lap, to show how "well imprinted" it is. Wrong---the foal has been taught it's OK to "be on top of" a human! In the last chapter of his book, Dr Miller also discusses what can go wrong if the various stimuli are withdrawn too soon. Suppose you're rubbing up the foal with a chunk of plastic sacking. The foal goes very quiet, so you stop rubbing. Fine---IF the foal was "relaxed in acceptance". But, if the foal was instead "frozen in fear", what you have accomplished is teaching the animal that if he holds his breath and shuts down his brain, the "bad thing" will go away. Not quite what Miller had in mind! I have 3 Fjords. Two were ranch-raised; the 3rd was backyard raised and "imprinted". I'll never know exactly what happened, but the two ranch horses are very easy to live with---they know their places as horses. The "imprinted" horse is the one we call "Squirrel Brain", and he seems to think that he gets a vote in what we can and can't to to him. Given his reactions to plastic, I suspect they got that part wrong. And, it's pretty clear that his "imprinting" didn't include taking his temperature, looking in his mouth, cleaning his sheath, etc. Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 30 mi SSE of San Francisco, Calif. -------
