Benefits to humans and donkeys

Wellbeing and life skills in donkeys and humans

Donkey wellbeing refers to an aspirational state of welfare where we desire donkeys to not only be ‘free from’ negative states but where we aspire to positive states of physical and mental wellbeing. For example, a donkey can experience stable relationships, enjoy physical exercise and mental stimulation, and experience positive mental states subjectively described as happiness.

In a similar fashion, human wellbeing refers to how someone evaluates their life as a whole and how comfortable, happy, and healthy they feel themselves to be. Within Donkey Assisted Activities, we view wellbeing as how happy a person is, their satisfaction with day-to-day life, how well they cope with everyday situations and the opportunities they have for positive experiences.

Human life skills refer to skills learned throughout the course of a person’s life that help them deal with situations positively, effectively, and adaptably. These are skills promoted by global organisations, such as the World Health Organisation, that contribute to human wellbeing and the capacity to live a good life.

Donkeys can also learn or improve their life skills during their time at The Donkey Sanctuary and beyond, giving them the ability to meet new situations and people with curiosity and confidence rather than apprehension and distrust.

Mindfulness and self-awareness

Mindfulness plays an important role within all our sessions. Practicing mindfulness naturally gives the mind space to discover itself and is the core of self-awareness. It can be an important tool to show you clearly that not every emotion or thought is worth reacting to. It helps us to prioritize and use our energy and time wisely and efficiently. It also allows us to enter a state that aligns with our equine partners.

By spending time with donkeys, whether grooming, stroking or simply being around them in the field, people can become increasingly more confident in their presence. Belief in an ability to approach, connect and interact with donkeys can lead to sessions that boost self-confidence. Our session leads create an understanding of donkey behaviour so that client interactions with donkeys can be happy experiences for both.

Why donkeys?

Donkeys are naturally inquisitive creatures, often choosing to investigate new experiences rather than shy away from them. They are social animals, seeking out interactions with their own species and with others, including humans. Donkey Assisted Activities facilitates these interactions in a calm, supported environment.

Recognising sentience

Sentience means having the capability to sense what is going on around you, feel different sensations and emotions, and respond to things in a conscious, purposeful way. Donkey Assisted Activities celebrates donkeys as the unique individuals they are, with the capacity to teach us about ourselves and how we can develop our life skills and wellbeing, whilst in turn developing theirs.

Donkeys, contrary to traditional beliefs, are incredibly intelligent animals. Not ‘stubborn’, but cautious, not ’ignorant’, but stoic. Their ability to problem-solve, communicate, and their capacity for emotion demonstrates them as beautifully sentient beings. This intelligence, curiosity and sociability makes donkeys fantastic animals to interact with, learn about and teach us about ourselves, whilst the donkeys strengthen their skills in a way that safeguards their wellbeing.

Decades of our advocacy work has proven that behaviour towards donkeys can often be far from compassionate. This means that a key aim of our charity has been changing the way that donkeys are perceived. The more we can showcase donkeys as sentient animals with the capacity for human-like emotions, the more we can turn the tide on negative perceptions and raise the status of donkeys throughout the world. Donkey Assisted Activities, and the benefit that these mutually enriching interactions can bring to donkeys and humans, is a fantastic way to help achieve this.