Imprint Training at Hinterland Ranch
by
Kay Patterson
(Written 12-15-02 for Dr. Robert Miller, at his request)
Kay has been raising and breeding Arabian horses since 1956 and camelids since 1965 and became aware of Dr. Miller’s work on imprinting in the late 1970’s. Kay and her former husband Richard Patterson owned Patterson Arabians, a world renown Polish Arabian breeding farm. Kay was responsible for all of the foaling and used many of Dr. Miller’s techniques with the newborn foals. Kay and Richard also founded the llama industry in North America and had a herd that averaged 500 llamas for 15 years.
When Kay designed and built Hinterland Ranch in 1990, she brought 250 llamas and a few Arabians to their new 230 acre home. Llama management underwent a dramatic change in 1997 when Kay’s long time friend, John Mallon came from Southern California to give a Mallon Clinic for llama aficionados. As part of his program, John was using Dr. Miller’s imprint training techniques on the crias (newborn llamas). Propitiously, a baby was born during the clinic and “mallonizing” (Kay’s term) was demonstrated to all. Every llama cria born on Hinterland Ranch since John’s clinic has been mallonized.
As a result, the babies were halter broken and handled before, instead of after, being
weaned. They were not frightened and were so much easier to handle and work with. Kay had always done a “Wean Screen” on all babies before weaning. This included a blood chemistry panel and complete physical examination. In 1997, Kay’s husband Eric Sharpnack, DVM did a study of the effects of mallonizing on CK (creatinine phosphokinase) values. Ck elevation in blood is a representation of excitement, stress, and muscular effort while being handled or stressed in any number of ways. Interestingly, the CK levels and heart rate were significantly lower in animals that had had imprint training at birth.
After 7 years of using Dr. Miller’s imprint training (now well known in the camelid world as mallonizing), there is definitely a very noticeable difference between mallonized and non-mallonized llamas. New moms are easy to handle and milk, breeding males are easy to halter and manage, and the show animals have a much better attitude towards stressful grooming and training to show. The entire ranch has a different feel with happy, relaxed inhabitants.