A Norfolk animal sanctuary is calling on volunteers to come and walk its resident Shetland ponies to keep them trim during the summer months.

The World Horse Welfare rescue and rehoming centre in Snetterton is currently caring for more than 100 horses and ponies and seven of them are Shetlands.

Staff said the ponies are kept on restricted grazing but need some exercise to keep them at a healthy weight.

Sue Hodgkins, Hall Farm centre manager, said: 'We keep a very close eye on all our horses and ponies to make sure they are all at the right weight, but the Shetland ponies are too small to be ridden and the horse walker isn't suitable, so we thought an excellent way for them to get some exercise is for members of the public to come and take them for a walk around our beautiful tracks.'

'After the success a few years ago when we gave staff the opportunity to walk some of the Shetlands in their lunch break, we thought this time we would extend the offer to members of the public. The ponies are all very well-behaved as they are used to taking part in demonstrations at our open days and some of them would even be happy with their handler walking a dog on a lead at the same time.'

Upon arrival, volunteers would have a short induction on how to put on a headcollar, how to lead in hand and what they would need to do if the pony misbehaves. The centre is calling on volunteers to help out any day of the week between 10.30am and 12.30pm.

For more information, call 01953 499100.