"When we feed the soil with artificials, it creates artificial plants, which make artificial animals, which make artificial people, and they're all kept alive by artificial medicine." 

Sir Albert Howard, the godfather of Modern Scientific Aerobic Composting, "An Agricultural Testament", 1943

How we got here

To understand why feeding has become so complicated - for both horses and humans - we need to rewind a little.

By the mid-20th century, the world was changing rapidly. Populations were growing, food demand was rising, and agriculture was under pressure to produce more, faster, and more cheaply. The answer, at the time, was what became known as progress - mechanisation, chemical inputs, and intensive farming systems designed to maximise meat, dairy, and crop yields.

For pasture-based farming - including meat, dairy, and grazing systems - this meant altering soil fertility to increase carbohydrate content. The aim was straightforward - fatter animals, more milk per cow, faster turnover, greater profit.

Chemicals made it possible. For crop farming, the focus shifted to efficiency and control - crops were bred to resist pests, withstand spraying, and grow uniformly. Weeds were eliminated, yields increased, and farming became increasingly dependent on fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides.

At the time, this was seen as success. What wasn’t understood - or perhaps wasn’t prioritised - was the long-term cost.

What changed beneath our feet - the soil

Healthy soil is quite literally alive. Much like the gut microbiome, it contains a vast and complex ecosystem of microorganisms that enable plants to access minerals, synthesise nutrients, and develop resilience.

And yet - when farming moved towards heavy machinery and chemical inputs, that living system began to break down.

The first major shift came with mechanised farming in the early 20th century. While it made farming more efficient, it physically disrupted soil structure and damaged microbial life. Then, following the Second World War, ammonium nitrate fertilisers were introduced. Yields increased dramatically - but soil chemistry changed in ways nature couldn’t easily correct.

By the 1950s and 60s, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides became routine. These chemicals did exactly what they were designed to do: kill pests and fungi. Unfortunately, they also killed the beneficial microorganisms that make soil fertile in the first place.

Then, in the 1990s, genetically engineered crops and glyphosate entered the picture. These plants were not designed to be more nutritious, but to tolerate chemical spraying and simplify large-scale production.

Each step made farming more productive. Each step also moved us further away from nutrient-dense food. And some 30-50 years later, we're all so much sicker than we used to be.

Why this matters for horses - the dairy farm pasture

Horses evolved to eat long-stem grasses containing not just fibre, but minerals and micronutrients bound within living plant structures.

Yet today, much of what horses eat comes from:

• chemically fertilised pasture
• intensively farmed crops
• modern grass varieties bred for yield, not equine health

Many horses now graze on former dairy farms - ryegrass pastures that can contain exceptionally high sugar levels, sometimes exceeding 30–35%. These grasses may also contain natural endophytes that are toxic to horses and have been linked to laminitis and reproductive issues.

Add to this the reality that most manufactured horse feeds are made from intensively farmed, chemically treated crops - and unless clearly labelled organic, they are almost certainly part of this same system.

The result is a growing mismatch between equine biology and modern food sources.

Declining nutrients - what the research shows

When researchers compare the nutritional composition of food grown in the mid-20th century with that grown decades later, a consistent pattern emerges - nutrients have declined.

Studies examining fruits and vegetables between 1950 and 1999 found reliable reductions in protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2), and vitamin C. Other research has shown significant drops in vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, and potassium.

In the UK specifically, copper levels in vegetables fell by an astonishing 76% between 1940 and 1990, while calcium dropped by nearly half.

These changes are not the result of individual farming mistakes or poor choices. They are a direct consequence of how food is grown, and plants can only be as nutritious as the soil they grow in.

A note on genetically modified crops

Genetically modified crops are a complex and often polarising subject. What is clear is that they were developed primarily to tolerate chemical herbicides and simplify large-scale farming - not to improve nutritional value.

Glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in this system, has been classified by the World Health Organization as a "probable carcinogen". It is also known to disrupt gut microbial balance and act as a chelator of key minerals, particularly magnesium.

For horses - whose health is so closely tied to hindgut microbial stability - this raises important questions about long-term exposure, even at low levels. This isn’t about fear-mongering - it’s about understanding the environment our horses now live and eat in, so we can make informed decisions.

As you can see on the chart below (Source: Dr.Mercola), these minerals were plentiful in food before the advance of mechanised farming. By the time genetically engineered crops were introduced, along with the herbicide glyphosate in the 1990s, levels had dropped to alarming levels:

Where this leaves us today

We now live in a world where:

• soil biology has been depleted
• food diversity has narrowed
• nutrient density can no longer be assumed

This is our modern reality - but all is not lost, seriously!

The good news is that awareness gives us choice. Once we understand the landscape, we can adapt how we feed and support our horses - thoughtfully, deliberately, and with respect for their biology.

Pulling this all together

Healthy horses are built from multi-grass species (meadow) fibre, appropriate minerals, and feeding practices that work with their digestive design, not against it.

With today's depleted soil, we must never assume our horses are nourished - we must always balance - add back in - the missing nutrients.

Understanding how we arrived here helps explain why feeding today looks different from feeding fifty years ago - and why simplicity, quality, and species-appropriate choices matter more than ever.

Next up - Why what we feed has to be right - the lowdown on feeding everything from alfalfa, hay, haylage, mashes, oils, soya, straw & wheat.