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The animals have stables outside but prefer to cuddle up in front of the TV with 16-year-old Corinna Northover and her mother Heidi. The pampered pets, which are between 31 and 34 inches

tall, are allowed to drink water straight from the kitchen tap and are fed carrots from the vegetable rack. Heidi, 46, of Derby, said: “They’re just like big dogs really. They have stables

and paddocks outside but they just prefer to be inside with us and it’s nice to have them around the house. “We’re always worried that they will be stolen because they look so cute. “They’re

very much part of the family and we spoil them rotten. They mean the world to me.” Roanie, 10, Star, four, and Hania, two, have even been house trained so there is rarely a mess on the

living room carpet. Heidi recalled: “We used to let the ponies roam around the back yard and one day I left the back door open. “I had made a sausage sandwich and left it on the side. When I

came back it had vanished and there were hoof prints leading out of the door. “Ever since then they’ve come and gone whenever they please. They’re not kept in the house all the time and if

they wanted to live outside they could, they just prefer to be in the warm. “We have another pony, Merlin, but he’s a bit too big to make it through the back door. Our neighbours have horses

too, so they understand, though I don’t think they’d ever let their horses inside.”