Equine and Horse Blog Pennsylvania March Archive

Is Imprinting Foals a Bad Idea?

By Alex at 03/17/08 20:31

Anytime I have heard people talking about imprinting foals, I only hear good things. Like how it will better prepare the foal for later positive human interaction. According to a new study done in France, imprinting may actually cause negative effects for the foal.

A team of behavioral biologists took two groups of foals, one that they chose to imprint and one to use as a control. The results actually showed that imprinting really isn't all that effective. The research actually showed that foals that had been handled soon after birth actually stayed closer to their dams and were more cautious about their surroundings. The handled foals were also less prone to play and interact with the other foals and didn't separate from their mothers well compared to the group of control foals.

This study shows that foals seem to remember for the long term what happens very soon after the birth. Whatever your stand is on this issue it is important to know that whether or not you choose to imprint your foals, positive contact with the mother is a great way to indirectly show the foal a positive horse-human interaction. No intervention can ever replace the natural post birth events between mother and foal.

Horse Serum can Possibly Treat the Bird Flu

Who knew that horses could be so useful. New research has show that horse serum can potentially be used someday to treat people with the Bird Flu or (H5N1 virus).

Researchers have tested this on mice and found that mice that were injected with the H5N1 virus that were also injected with horse serum that contained horse antibodies survived the virus. 100 percent of mice injected with only 100 microliters (about the size of the tip of a pencil) lived after being injected with the virus. As a control group, a group of infected mice were also injected with horse serum that did NOT have antibodies and within 9 hours all of those infected mice had died.

It is pretty cool to know that maybe after more research has been conducted, the serum from our own horses could potentially cure people of the nasty Bird Flu. The best thing about it is that all you have to do to get the antibodies is draw some blood from a horse. It doesn't affect or hurt the horse at all.