In this exclusive interview with Dr. Debbie Carley, we delve into the exceptional qualities of FAI Farms in Wytham, Oxford, renowned for its biodiverse grasslands. Our conversation explores how these unique pastures produce hay that not only nourishes horses but also promotes their overall health and well-being. We discuss the environmental and geographical factors that contribute to the distinctiveness of this region and the advantages of choosing organic feed. Join us as we uncover the benefits of incorporating this remarkable hay into Thunderbrook’s premium equine products.
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Before we start, what makes the grass in Thunderbrook products so unique and can you tell us a little about the role of biodiverse hay in equine nutrition?
Dr. Carley: Forage is the largest part of a horse’s diet so it is crucial to get it right. An adult horse at maintenance will consume approximately 2% of its body weight per day, dry weight, in forage (a little less in summer and a little more in winter depending on the individual horse and the quality of the forage). This means that a 15.2hh, 500kg horse will consume approx. 10kg of hay per day, or over 40kg of wet grass. Now you know why you do so much ‘poo picking’ in the paddocks every day! This forage provides the bulk of the fibre that is fermented in the hindgut by the gut microbes, and it provides the main source of the horse’s daily requirement for digestible energy (calories), vitamins, minerals, protein, oils and with grass, moisture content too. Most horses survive very well on a good forage based diet, with just a top up of hard feed to balance the vitamin and mineral requirements, and extra energy if required.
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With this in mind, what distinguishes the grasslands at FAI Farms in Wytham (Oxford) from other grasslands?
Dr. Carley: These are rare and ancient lowland (flood plain) hay meadows, which have been traditionally managed for over a thousand years, and incredibly records for them date back to the 10th century. They are listed in the Domesday book of 1086. Once commonplace in the UK in the 18th and 19th centuries, most of these ancient hay meadows were often part of commonage and highly regarded by the local community, forming the staple winter diet for livestock such as cattle and working horses. Over 95% of this unique land type has been lost since the early 20th century. During and post wars, the ancient hay meadows were sacrificed for the war effort to grow more food, often becoming arable land or allotments. Then with the increase in use of motor vehicles and fewer working horses, this land was never returned to its original hay meadows, but became intensively farmed arable or dairy farms, and many allotments being developed into housing estates, and so the majority of these ancient hay meadows were lost. These ancient hay meadows are part of the most researched in the UK, with university, charity and private research projects studying and documenting the flora and fauna, biodiversity, carbon capture, etc.
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What unique qualities does the hay harvested here possess that make it particularly suitable for feeding horses?
Dr. Carley: The hay produced from these meadows is unique in that it provides over 200 different varieties of grasses and forbs. This is a staggering amount of biodiversity compared to typical modern grazing and hay meadows. Most modern pastures contain a very limited number of grasses with an emphasis on commercial hybrid grass types such as ryegrasses, fescues, timothies and ryegrass/fescue crosses. Very often forbs (other plants such as herbs) are completely lacking due to the use of herbicides to rid the pastures of ‘weeds’. This amazing biodiversity of organically grown grasses and forbs provides a natural source of both prebiotics and probiotics for the animals that consume both the grazing and hay from these meadows. Research has shown that unimproved grasslands like these meadows are based on soils with a very healthy and diverse soil microbiome, which in turn leads to a very healthy and diverse plant microbiome. We know from studies that the microbiome of mixed meadow hay is more diverse than the microbiome associated with monoculture ryegrass or timothy or fescue hay for example, so we can envisage the microbiome associated with hay containing up to 200 different plant varieties will be even greater. The gut microbiome of the horse is dependent on a number of factors including the soil, grazing, hay, hard feed, medications, environmental toxins, etc it consumes and the gut microbiomes of its field companions. Prebiotics are the soluble fibres of plants and yeasts which are a source of fermentable food for probiotic microorganisms. The more diverse the plant composition of the hay, the more diverse the prebiotic composition with inulins, fructo oligosaccharides, oligo fructose, other oligosaccharides from glucose, starches and pectins, and non carbohydrate oligosaccharides such as flavanols. Hence hay from these highly biodiverse meadows can provide an amazingly diverse source of probiotics and prebiotics for your horse. This type of hay forms part of the natural evolutionary diet of the horse.
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Are there specific environmental or geographical factors at this location that contribute to horse health?
Dr. Carley: These unimproved ancient hay meadows have been managed organically for centuries, with no application of pesticides, herbicides, chemical nitrate, NPK fertilisers, etc. They have the highest conservation status designated for their botanical importance at both the national and European level, classed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Nature Conservation Review (NCR) site. This means that the hay is produced with minimum environmental toxins. The lowland meadows sit on the edge of a floodplain, hence the grassland receives fresh nutrients each year brought in with the flood waters.
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How does the inclusion of hay from this area enhance the overall health and well-being of horses?
Dr. Carley: Many proprietary brands of pre and probiotics are available for horses these days, with an extensive range and often a high price tag attached to them. However, most horse owners are not aware that a high quality, biodiverse, organic forage provides a natural and ‘free’ dietary source of pre and probiotics too. The highest levels and most diverse range will be associated with hay made from unimproved, biodiverse meadows grown on healthy soils, such as this hay sourced by Thunderbrook Equestrian.
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Could you describe the variety of grasses, herbs, and flowers commonly found in this region?
Dr. Carley: Over 200 types of grasses and forbs have been identified and catalogued on these ancient hay meadows. Modern hybrid ryegrasses and ryegrass/fescue crosses containing higher sugar and fructan levels require high levels of nitrates to survive, but these soils are unimproved and naturally have lower nitrate levels, so these modern hybrids are typically not found in these meadows. Instead you will find grasses such as many types of bents, bromes, cocksfoot, couches, dogs tail, fescues, false bromes, fox tails, hair grasses, meadow grasses (poa species), oat grasses, quaking grasses, unimproved ryegrass, soft grasses, timothy grasses, sweet vernal grass and Yorkshire fog grasses to name but a few. The many forbs include lady’s bedstraw, other bedstraws, different types of birdsfoot trefoil, burdocks, burnets, clovers, comfrey, cornflower, cranesbill, Dandelions, hawkbits, knapweeds, Mallow, meadowsweet, Mints, parsleys, Plantains, scabious, selfheal, sowthistles, vetches, willow herbs, yarrow and yellow rattle.
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What measures are taken to prevent the presence of poisonous plants in these fields?
Dr. Carley: Undesirable plants such as ragwort do not usually grow in the dense well covered meadows (ragwort prefer disturbed poor soils) but should any be found they are hand weeded out. Hay is cut from the centre of the meadows, avoiding the borders alongside the hedgerows, so this avoids any undesirable hedgerow or waterway plants such as briony, hemlocks etc. The farm management team and hay contractors are well versed in which plants to avoid or remove to ensure the hay is suitable for livestock.
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Could you explain the advantages of choosing organic feed for horses?
Dr. Carley: Organic feeds contain no genetically modified ingredients and pesticides such as glyphosate, neonicotinoids, etc are not permitted for use. Chemical fertilisers such as concentrated NPK granules are also not permitted in organic farming. Organic farms have on average 30% more biodiversity than non organic farms and are an excellent environment for bees and other wildlife. Organic farming promotes healthier soils with a healthy soil microbiome. About half of all pesticide use in UK non-organic farming is fungicides, and fungi are an important part of the soil microbiome as they form close symbiotic associations with plant roots.
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How does organic feed impact the health and well-being of horses compared to conventional feed options?
Dr. Carley: Healthy soil is the foundation of organic farming (hence the name ‘The Soil Association’ in the UK as the organic farming certification body for organic standards). A healthy soil has a more diverse microbiome, which leads to healthier plants with their own diverse microbiome associated with them too. Healthy plants contain higher levels of vitamins, minerals and plant polyphenols – natural plant chemicals which play a role in the immune and anti inflammatory responses of animals and humans. Many pesticides, herbicides, fungicides have undesirable effects such as chelating minerals (eg glyphosate binds to most +2 cations such as calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, etc) or killing beneficial microbes (eg fungicides will kill the types of beneficial fungi that are part of the horses gut microbiome). Feeding organic forage and hard feeds will promote healthy and diverse microbiomes, and also help support a biodiverse farm environment too.
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In which Thunderbrook products is this hay used, and what benefits does it provide?
Dr. Carley: The SSSI, SAC ancient meadow hay is used in the formulation for both Healthy Herbal Chaff and Organic Herbalite. These products are generally fed once or twice per day, as a carrier for a balancer or vitamin and mineral mix, and therefore are a good option for trickle feeding natural pre and probiotics into your horse’s daily diet.