Welcome to the nursery at Neil ‘N’ K Foundation Quarter Horses.  A great deal of time and effort is devoted to each newborn foal at Neil ‘N’ K.  Prior to birth, each mare receives top prenatal care with proper veterinary care, feed and vaccinations.  Each mare is moved to a dry lot the last three months of her gestation period.  This eliminates the risk of fescue toxicosis and helps to ensure the mare has ample milk for the foal at birth and reduces the risk of a stillborn foal.  The mares are pampered with exercise, frequent grooming, massages and just plain love.  Our foaling stalls are monitored closely by color security cameras and video taped should later viewing be needed, and – in case we miss something.  The security cameras are also wired to the household entertainment system and when foaling is imminent, we post a sentinel (Kelly) during the dusk to dawn hours. At birth, Kelly attends to the needs of mare and foal while Neil imprints the foal. 

Imprinting is a painless desensitizing process where the foals are exposed to various stimuli from head to toe such as paper, plastic, wearing a halter and blanket, the sound and feel of clippers (they are NOT shaved), a water sprayer, etc. They learn that these objects which will be part of their every day lives are not frightening or harmful to them.  The foals learn to give to pressure, lead and have every part of their being handled and touched until they fully relax and are comfortable with the experience.  This early positive learning will stay with a foal for life.  This may not seem important when a horse is small, but when a foal gets used to tapping on their hooves, they are easier to trim and shoe.  If a horse has had their nostril desensitized, a nasogastric tube is more readily accepted.  An emergency is NOT the time to train your 1000 pound plus horse to accept these items.  Imprinting takes approximately 20 minutes per day for 2-3 days and is done in the presence of the mare. Imprinting does NOT and should not interfere with the mare/foal bond. You should only attempt to imprint a foal if you are fully aware of how the process works.  

Our foals experience human touch from birth, are handled daily and view humans as their alpha herd leader.  The outcome has been easy to handle, confident foals that are fun to work with and possess a genuine love and respect of people.  As part of our standard level of care and attention, we work with each foal whether they will remain living on the farm or go to a new home.  We value our horses as well as our clients and want to provide a safe and secure beginning for all.   A loving, strong foundation is something that each foal will remember during all stages of growth and training.  Depending on the development of the foal, we generally wean the little ones at the age of 5 or 6 months.  This allows them to become socialized as a member of the herd and creates a mentally, emotionally balanced individual. 

Zeta and Miracle 2001	Neil imprinting Golden 2001	4 Foals 2002	Best Friends Spring 2002 Miracle & Golden
Imprinting Val with plastic 2004	Picking up Val's feet and tapping the soles	Walking over plastic - it's no big deal	Noche & Kelly August 21, 2004