I am a compulsive reader. Always have been. I keep a book in each bathroom, next to my bed, on the dinner table, in my car, several where I watch TV (I read during commercials), and I even carry my own books or periodical journals to my doctor’s appointments and even to fast-food lunch facilities.

So sometimes it takes many months to get through a book.

My colleague, Dr. Marcia Thibeault, sent me a copy of her book, I Make Horse Calls. I reviewed it and thanked her for it. I love reading other veterinarian’s books. James Herriot really started something!

Then, months ago, she sent me the sequel, More Horse Calls. I fast-read it and then, afterwards put it in one of our bathrooms for more casual, in-depth absorption.

Halfway through it last night, I was surprised to find myself in it.

Thank you Dr. Thibeault. Apparently you see that my imprint training method, used on newborn foals helps to produce a gentle and cooperative patient after they are mature.

An excerpt from More Horse Calls.

Luckily Sunny had been imprint trained, a process made popular by veterinarian Dr. Robert M. Miller. Imprint training takes advantage of a foal’s ability to learn rapidly right after birth. By exposing a newborn foal to potentially threatening stimuli, and showing the foal there is no real danger, the foal relaxes and a strong bond forms between horse and human. These imprint trained foals have less fear. If the foal is also taught to yield to pressure rather than fight against it, when it later becomes trapped, the foal soon finds struggling increases its pain, so it is more likely to stop struggling. They are also more willing to let humans help them. I hoped Pat’s early handling of Sunny was paying off now.