Stable-hand Sophie Kendrick has volunteered to take part in a unique art exhibition - after her death.

Sophie, 21, of Yeadon, decided to donate her body after death to the Institute for Plastination in Heidel-berg, after she visited the ghoulish Body Worlds exhibition in London.

Plastination is a means of preserving a body or body parts in a life-like condition for research and educational purposes.

Sophie, pictured, was so intrigued by the exhibition of 25 corpses and 175 real body parts on display that she pledged her own body to educational art.

She joined a group of 13 like-minded Britons who met the exhibition's German creator, Professor Gunther von Hagens, at the Atlantic Gallery on London's Brick Lane.

Since the exhibition opened in March, 22 UK visitors have signed up to donate their bodies.

The body donors discussed the issues with the professor and members of support groups from organ retention scandals.

Sophie made sure her parents, four sisters and two brothers were happy with her decision.

She said: "I don't like the thought of being buried or cremated so this is a better option. I won't need my body anymore and I won't know what is going on.

"The exhibition had a big effect on people. It's not shocking and you can learn a lot about the body. People don't realise how it is all put together and how clever it is.

"My mum Shirley is saving up to go to the exhibition now."

Horse-lover Sophie's favourite exhibit was a plastinated horse and rider.

"The rider had a human brain in one hand and a horse's brain in the other. The human brain was so much bigger, which surprised me," she said.

"But the horse's powerful body was more interesting than the human body."

Plastination, developed by Prof Hagens, stops the body from decaying.

Scientists can use flexible or hard polymers, of differing colours, depending on each specific case.

The tissue is preserved even down to microscopic level.

Some parts are preserved in "slices" to show their cross-section.

Sophie believes that Prof von Hagens has good reason for preserving bodies.

"These specimens make it easier to learn and last forever," she said.

"Some people who were affected by the Alder Hey organ scandal did not approve at first but they liked the exhibition.

"They thought that people could get upset over the stillborn babies. But they were happy we were making our own choices to donate our bodies."

Sophie's ambition is to become a horse whisperer, someone who calms down untameable horses.

The Body World exhibition, which features healthy and deceased human bodies and parts, has received mixed reviews in Britain.

One vicar described it as being "like a public hanging" while another critic organised a protest outside the museum earlier this month.

For other visitors, like Hollywood star Dustin Hoffman, it is a revelation, a chance to see what the body's anatomical structures look like.

Body Worlds is open at London's Atlantic Gallery every day from 9am until 9pm until September 29.