Hubby proposed a theory. If Rodney has been suffering from digestive upset, then perhaps he has long-term damage. Is there anything we could be feeding him to support/change/improve his digestive process? I asked advice from Karen Briggs, author of the book Understanding Equine Nutrition, the guest post The Oily Truth, and the blog Writing from the Right Side of the Stall. Briggs recommend nutritional yeast. I have placed an order for a bag of Diamond V.
Since we are trying to cure an ailment that may not exist in the first place, we may never know if or how well this works. Still, the idea of feeding Rodney’s gut flora seems logical to my medical adviser and the supplement is likely to be beneficial for general health. If Madame will condescend to eat any, we will try it on Mathilda as well.
Do you have any experience feeding yeast to horses, cows, people?
Virtual Brush Box 
If it’s any encouragement re: palatability, I once broke a 50 lb bag of Diamond V (arrrghhh!) while transporting it from truck to feed-room, right in the doorway of my mare’s stall. I swept up most of it, but later when I brought her in for dinner, she ignored the feed in her bucket (which she usually inhales) in favour of licking all the remaining yeast culture she could reach, off the floor.
We’ve been researching gout lately. Yeast (think bread and beer) is high in purines and to be avoided. Do horses get gout?
Never tried yeast. We used beer to soak an oats-and-bran feed for picky eaters and they gobbled it up. Don’t know how it works on gut ailments; my question would be are you feeding the flora you want to feed?