SUPPORTERS of a horse and pony sanctuary are starting a crowdfunding appeal to pay for an operation for one of its rare breeds.

Rolystone Sanctuary in Westfield Lane, Wrose, desperately needs to raise between £2,000 to £4,000 so 11-year-old Shira, a rare Caspian, can have surgery to sort out the ligament damage and floating bone in her leg which has made her lame.

At first volunteers at the sanctuary thought Shira had the horse-form of osteoarthritis, called Ringbone, and put her on box rest but when it did not get better they called out the vet.

The vet now believes there has been an old injury that has become aggravated causing all the serious damage.

Sanctuary volunteer Joanne Metcalfe said: "Shira had been out on loan and when she came back we noticed she was a bit lame. We're not blaming the family who had her at all but going on box rest did her no good at all so we had to call in the vet.

"The vet said she needs an operation or the only other option is to put her to sleep. She's only 11 which is young in horse years and we feel she's got many more years left in her yet so even though the surgery bill would be expensive it would be worth every penny. We feel we need to give her that opportunity. She's such a pretty little thing."

The Caspian breed is among the world's rarest type of horse, believed to be only 900 left in the world. They were only rediscovered 50 years ago in North Iran.

It is believed they were pets of the Royal family of Persia. Legend has it that King Darius would use these brave and agile horses to pull chariots in public demonstrations of battling lions, to prove his strength as a leader. He valued his little horses so much that they were engraved on his Royal Seal in 550 BC.

Mrs Metcalfe said: "We are hard pushed for funds as ever. We rely totally on public donations to keep the sanctuary running so we don't have funds for this operation.

"We're hoping that if lots of people get together and donate just a little bit each we might quickly get enough for Shira to get the operation she needs so she can get back to normal."

She added: "We've already got people organising onesie days but we could do with people putting on coffee mornings, tabletop sales anything that might help us help Shira."

Cheques made payable to the Rolystone Horse and Pony Sanctuary can be sent to 12 Farlea Drive, Bradford, BD2 3RJ, anyone interested in helping Shira and making a donation or organising an event should contact Ms Metcalfe on 07849 498966.