Neonatal handling affects durably bonding and social development: experimental studies in the domestic foal
Résumé
In most Mammals, the neonatal period is characterized by intense mother-young interactions
in favor of pair bonding and neonates’ adaptation to the new environment. Here, we
investigated the possible consequences of interferences at this particular stage on subsequent
mother-young attachment and social development. We choose to investigate this issue on the
domestic horse, as mother-young bonds are established rapidly during the first hours postbirth.
First, we demonstrated that foals brought to their dams’ teats for the very first suckling
bout appeared at later ages (1 to 3 months) to remain closer to their dams and to play less than
control foals that had been allowed to suckle spontaneously. Second, we found that foals that
were submitted to separation from their dams and handled for a single 1-hour bout post-birth,
as compared to foals left undisturbed, showed patterns of unsecure attachment to the dam
(strong dependency to the dam, poor play) and lowered features of social competence (social
withdrawal, aggressiveness) at least up to adolescence (1 year). We concluded that first
suckling and first contacts are crucial events in the development of secure attachment. These
findings are discussed in terms of mother-young interactions, timing of interactions and
relation between bonding and later social competency.