Four years of patience behind Polly's progress

Fourteen-year-old Polly was relinquished to The Donkey Sanctuary from a private home in 2020, along with three other donkeys, after her challenging behaviour had become unmanageable.

After arriving at our Sidmouth sanctuary, Polly embarked on a lengthy journey to overcome her behavioural issues, thanks to the dedication of her grooms and behaviourists tasked with turning her life around.

Polly's journey begins

Polly arrived at our New Arrivals Unit in Sidmouth, Devon in 2020, and took little time in demonstrating just how frightened of people she really was.

Groom Rachel Troutt recalls: “Polly’s ears would flatten to the back of her head and she would suddenly reverse at speed towards us, bucking at the same time.

“Sadly, we realised that at some point in her past she had felt the need to go to these lengths to defend herself and she had subsequently learned that displaying this extreme behaviour and physicality was a successful method to  avoid being handled.”

In the six weeks that Polly stayed at our New Arrivals Unit, Rachel and the other grooms made provisions to handle Polly, ensuring that everyone’s safety was prioritised, including her own.

A small sandy area in the unit’s yard was earmarked as Polly’s handling pen, as its size negated her ability to build up speed and charge at whoever groomed her.

“She was a very challenging donkey,” Rachel says.

“The toughest part of caring for Polly was her unpredictability. One minute, she would appear perfectly fine – her ears were forward, and her body was relaxed. The next minute, she would suddenly be tense, swinging her feet around with her ears back.

“When we groomed her, we always had to read her body language carefully and ensure there was an escape route if she suddenly changed behaviour.”

Despite her issues, Rachel felt that Polly was looking for human contact.

Once six weeks had passed, it was time for Polly to begin her long-term transition to life on one of our sanctuary farms, where she would continue to learn about the positives that people can offer and gradually grow in confidence.

Although Polly was still worried about human contact, her positive experience at our New Arrivals Unit set her up for a successful future where she would continue to gain confidence, and reduce her need to show such extreme behaviours.  

“She wanted to connect,” Rachel recalls. “Her body language would soften, but it's when we tried to make that connection that she would become aggressive and swing her rear towards us, kicking out. She was so difficult to predict.”

Arrival at Axnoller

After her stint at our New Arrivals Unit, Polly made the move to Axnoller Farm in Dorset where she spent time under the care and guidance of our Behaviour team.

Polly made some encouraging progress at Axnoller Farm, overcoming her anxieties of being caught, but still showed extreme fear when her feet were handled.

Equine Behaviourist Kerry Layton-Hill, who was assigned to Polly, says: “When she first arrived here, it was clear that Polly wanted to engage with people.

“However, I could see the underlying fear was still there and she could exhibit her learned defensive behaviour to avoid being handled if she started to feel anxious.

“In her environment and in the company of her friends, Polly was a very calm and quiet donkey.

“It was when we got closer to trimming her feet that her defensive mindset engaged and she kicked out sharply to avoid her legs and hooves being touched.

“I remember thinking that with plenty of patience, Polly had the ability to overcome her issues.

“Her behaviour was extreme, but I was confident that with our team giving her their continued support, she could clear any hurdles she faced.”

Addressing Polly's behaviour

To tackle Polly’s fears head-on, Kerry and one of Polly's grooms created a personalised behaviour modification programme, centred on building her confidence around general handling – specifically with her feet.

To date, Polly has been undergoing training within the behaviour modification programme for more than a year – and the team has celebrated several victories in that time.

More than 40 short sessions have been carried out, in which Polly has gradually been introduced to a number of new experiences in a controlled environment.

The programme, which began in February last year, recorded its first major breakthrough the following month – an encouraging sign of things to come.

Kerry says: “Polly remained calm as her groom ran her hand down the whole length of her front legs towards her feet.

“Even this step was broken down into several smaller steps over the course of a number of weeks.

“If her groom had attempted to carry out the same action before, Polly would have become very tense and swung to the side to try and kick her.

“This was one of many small steps we achieved with Polly in the first few months of the programme.

“Ultimately, these small victories have led to helping Polly become more confident and assured when being handled.”

More than a year on, Polly continues to make great strides. She now stands calmly while having her all of feet picked out.

Kerry puts the successes down to the perseverance of the teams that have worked tirelessly with Polly in her years at Axnoller

“The team at Axnoller had so much trust in the process,” she adds. “Above all, they had the patience to see it through.

“Polly was a remarkably challenging donkey when she arrived in Dorset, and it is testament to everyone here that she can trust people again.”

A brighter future ahead

There’s still more work to be done by Kerry and the team at Axnoller. Although she can have her feet picked out by her grooms, it needs to be done in private to prevent her from becoming overwhelmed by the everyday activity going on around her.

To help her become more comfortable in other scenarios such as having her feet trimmed by a farrier at Axnoller, plans are in place to introduce tools, farrier-specific sights and sounds to Polly’s schedule.

In time, it is hoped she will feel even more relaxed and secure while receiving routine farriery care.

Kerry adds: “The future is looking bright for Polly. She has a better quality of life now she doesn’t live with such fear.

“She now comes up and enjoys attention and fuss from the grooms at Axnoller Farm. Before, she would stand at a distance.

“It’s amazing to see how she has transformed. It means a lot that a donkey’s life can be so much better because of the behaviour training that is put in.”