Down to earth

How much attention do you pay to the soil – its chemical health and nutrient status – in your horse's field? Emily Bevan finds out why your soil should look like chocolate cake rather than brownie

- Emily Bevan

UNDERSTANDING your soil is important, so that you can manage the land well and support the growth of healthy grass to provide your horse with the right nutrients.

Yet, according to Zoe Morgan, senior land management consultant at ADAS, which provides soil and water quality advice, "most horse owners have never tested their fields".

"Farmers are required to test their soils every five years," she says. "There's a difference, as farmers regularly use fertilisers, but soil sampling is something that we really don't see done much in equine situations."

Enlisting the help of experts will provide useful chemical and biological analysis and information about the physical properties of your soil, as well as advice. But digging a hole yourself and seeing what the soil feels like is a good starting point.

Jerry Alford, senior farming adviser at the Soil Association, describes what to look for.

"Healthy soil looks like chocolate cake - air and water are getting in, roots can move down and worms can move around," he says. "Unhealthy soil digs up like a chocolate brownie, feels heavy and tight and results in lower grass production. With unhealthy soil, you'll have fewer earthworms and probably less bacteria, fungi and insects. If you dig a hole and have lots of earthworms, that's good. If you don't, that's bad."

The minerals available in the soil directly affect the grasses that grow, so grass should function as forage, not as a primary nutrient source.