Every horse at our Felledge Equine and Animal Centre is there because they have been neglected or abused.
They are monitored in stables away from other horses for their first four weeks in case they have any infectious diseases such as strangles and ringworm.
Polly was half her ideal weight
Because she hadn't eaten properly for so long, Polly weighed just 264kg when she arrived, which is about half the weight she should have been.
She also had difficulty digesting food and was given a special diet. The amount of food she received was increased gradually so she didn't get colic, a potentially fatal stomach condition.
'Around 80 per cent of horses come in starved and neglected'
Yet shockingly, Polly is fairly typical of the state horses are in when they arrive at Felledge.
Lisa Paulin, deputy manager at Felledge, said:
It took a good six months for Polly to reach a normal weight; that's how thin she was.
She's a typical case for us - around 80 per cent of horses come in starved and neglected.
Rehabilitating Polly
As well as helping Polly gain weight and improve her health, work began to help her trust humans and teach her 'stable manners', including allowing people to enter her stable, simple voice commands and having her feet picked up.
She was assigned to groom Rachael Duffy, who began her training. Every horse at Felledge has one of seven grooms who is responsible for their progress and training throughout their stay.
Gaining Polly's trust
Rachael, who has worked for the RSPCA for more than six years, spent many hours with Polly, trying to gain her trust.
At first Polly was defensive and Rachael didn't think she'd get anywhere with her.
She said:
Polly would put her ears back when you went near her and didn't like anyone being in the stable when she was eating.
This was all understandable as she had been starved and had no reason to like humans.
I thought to myself, 'I've got a major challenge on my hands here!'
Rachael continued:
But after a few weeks of working with Polly and gaining her trust, she began to enjoy her work and understand that I wasn't going to take her food away; that I was there to help.
Suddenly she started waiting for me at the field gate when it was time to come in.