VISITORS to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre are now greeted by the impressive sight of a life-sized horse forged from galvanised steel.

Standing at 18-hands (nearly two metres) tall the as-yet unnamed creature has been created to show off tendons and muscles – symbolising the NOC’s research into muscular disease.

It is displayed outside the hospital’s Botnar Research Centre on the site in Windmill Road, Oxford.

It was donated by the West Sussex-based Camelia Botnar Foundation, an independent charitable trust which raise funds for the NOC and its research.

Foundation artists Tim Clement and Kat Hutchison designed and built the sculpture with help from their 10 metalwork apprentices who come from difficult home situations and learn various trades such as ironwork, carpentry and horticulture.

Jeanette Franklin is director of the NOC Appeal and helped to coordinate the donation.

She said: “The foundation does a fantastic job in helping young adults embark on a useful career. The talent and skills they have are amazing and I hope they will be able to provide more artwork for the hospital. The reason we chose a horse was because it’s all about muscles and tendons and because we research muscular diseases at the research centre.”

The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre Appeal is an independent charitable trust and over the last 22 years has raised £22m, with the help and support of thousands of patients and their families and individuals, to provide new buildings and facilities for the hospital.