A strange but slighty delicate issue!

Annagain

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Having had a horse with sheath melanomas that require regular cleaning for many years I thought I had seen it all, but last night I *think* I was proved wrong. I'm not sure though hence my question.

I was feeding and checking the boys in the field when (melanoma free) M decided he didn't like his feed and lunged at (melanoma riddled) A to chase him off his (identical) feed to eat that. They often swap feeds or share buckets. As he lunged, something fell to the floor from his tummy area. It was about the size an egg but flatter. I thought it was a piece of mud stuck to him but it looked an odd colour so I picked it up. It was very soft, slightly greasy and when I sniffed at it, it reminded me of the smell when I have to clean A's sheath out. I knew from A's lip curling reaction when he's sniffed my hand post cleaning that there's a sure fire way of finding out so I let M sniff it and the lip curl appeared so I'm pretty sure it originated from the nether regions.

As they're both grey and given A's problems I keep a close eye on M too and he's never had so much as a speck of smegma on him before so I've left well alone. Last time I checked was about a month ago. I had a quick check last night and everything looked clean and normal, but I didn't delve too deeply as I was a long way from the tack room with no gloves! I know A develops a lot of smegma due to his melanomas but can a horse with no previous history develop this much in a few weeks and is it normal for big lumps to just to drop out like that?
 

applecart14

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Could it have been the elusive 'bean'?

The bean that came out of my horse wasn't elusive. The vet said he'd never seen such a big one! It was the size of a 50p piece, goodness knows how he'd managed all this time! I only got it checked as I noticed a lot of smegma on his legs too and my friends horse had had one removed which was of considerable size!

Lots of geldings have these 'beans' - you would be suprised.
 

Serephin

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The bean that came out of my horse wasn't elusive. The vet said he'd never seen such a big one! It was the size of a 50p piece, goodness knows how he'd managed all this time! I only got it checked as I noticed a lot of smegma on his legs too and my friends horse had had one removed which was of considerable size!

Lots of geldings have these 'beans' - you would be suprised.

Oh, I know, I often fished out a fair sized bean from my gelding. I meant elusive in as much as a lot of people don't know they exist, let alone where to find it! I am always met with looks of horror when I mention having to remove it! 😄
 

Annagain

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I've checked for a bean once a month for about 6 years and nothing. A month ago it was completely clear. Arch sometimes has a bean, but it's about a 10th of the size this was. If that was a bean I'd be very worried it got so big so quickly after never having one before?

ETA This was three times the size of a 50p?
 

muckypony

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Having never had geldings up until recent years, this was new to me too! My biggest gelding has a VERY clean winkle - someone said to me the other day "Don't even deny that you've been touching that" and I honestly don't! I never clean it. However he does occasionally get a build up of lumpy smegma around the outer area during the summer. I think maybe just because he gets hotter, fly sprays etc building up?
 

Magnetic Sparrow

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Could the 'egg' have built up really high up inside where you might not have managed to get your hand normally? Then maybe detached and dropped out?
 

Annagain

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Could the 'egg' have built up really high up inside where you might not have managed to get your hand normally? Then maybe detached and dropped out?

I think it must have, although due to A's issues I'm pretty good at getting right up in there *ewwww* (I have to sedate him to do it, but we get it done!) I suppose I'm far less diligent with M as it all appears so clean and he doesn't get sedated. I was just very taken aback by how big it was and concerned how it could have got so big so (apparently) quickly!
 

applecart14

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Oh, I know, I often fished out a fair sized bean from my gelding. I meant elusive in as much as a lot of people don't know they exist, let alone where to find it! I am always met with looks of horror when I mention having to remove it! ��

Its something I would never confess to my work mates on the construction site :) I think I might get a few worried looks! :) Its bad enough having to explain that I have to shave his whiskers!
 

Bertolie

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The bean that came out of my horse wasn't elusive. The vet said he'd never seen such a big one! It was the size of a 50p piece, goodness knows how he'd managed all this time! I only got it checked as I noticed a lot of smegma on his legs too and my friends horse had had one removed which was of considerable size!

Lots of geldings have these 'beans' - you would be suprised.

The bean that had to be removed from my late gelding was approx 3cm x 2cm and had to be removed by the vet in pieces as that was the only way of getting it out 😯 The vet actually thought it was a tumour to begin with as it was so large!
 

shergar

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Its something I would never confess to my work mates on the construction site :) I think I might get a few worried looks! :) Its bad enough having to explain that I have to shave his whiskers!

Can I ask why you have to shave your horses whiskers ? . Each whisker on your horse is so important it has a portion of the brain dedicated to it ,in Germany it is illegal. I have asked the same question to a lot of people who go showing and the answer is every one does it. I have taken horses showing for many years and never removed whiskers ,I was told that they are never listed on a show judges sheet with regard how your horse is judged.
 

JanetGeorge

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I have a lot of geldings (and fillies) - without doing an add-up there MUST be at least 45 of them - mainly 1 - 4 year olds, and smegma is common. You spot bits on the loose haylage feeding areas where there's no grass. They are more common - in my experience - in a dry summer when it gets dusty. They pick up dust - and boom - there's a lump of smegma. One of my stallions virtually never showed smegma - but he was polite and saw no reason to wave bits around unles there was a nicely in-season mare in front of him. My young stallion - whose a randy little sod - we wash fortnightly because he spends so much time waving in the breeze! It would have to be incredibly persistent smegma for me to worry for 2 minutes about it
 

applecart14

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Can I ask why you have to shave your horses whiskers ? . Each whisker on your horse is so important it has a portion of the brain dedicated to it ,in Germany it is illegal. I have asked the same question to a lot of people who go showing and the answer is every one does it. I have taken horses showing for many years and never removed whiskers ,I was told that they are never listed on a show judges sheet with regard how your horse is judged.

HI Shergar I have always done this (I realise that doesn't necessary mean its okay) but I just think it makes him look a bit smarter for when I compete. I must admit I have never really thought about it before, but he has always seemed to be fine with it, in fact I stand in his stable with him completely free and he will just stand there more often than not with his bottom lip drooping relaxed and doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. I will just put my left hand on his nose and guide the trimmmer over his whiskers with my right hand. Sometimes it tickles him so he will try to lick the blade, but its never cut him (its only a little Braun mens trimmmer so wouldn't do much damage anyway to be honest). I do know of one horse who went down with colic immediately after having this done, and wouldn't eat or touch anything for ages but I am not convinced that this was the reason why. I do think natural horsemanship and this kind of thing does have a place in life, and am interested to hear that there is a portion of brain dedicated to it, which I did not know before. Maybe I will have a rethink in future or do some more research first.
 

shergar

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HI Shergar I have always done this (I realise that doesn't necessary mean its okay) but I just think it makes him look a bit smarter for when I compete. I must admit I have never really thought about it before, but he has always seemed to be fine with it, in fact I stand in his stable with him completely free and he will just stand there more often than not with his bottom lip drooping relaxed and doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. I will just put my left hand on his nose and guide the trimmmer over his whiskers with my right hand. Sometimes it tickles him so he will try to lick the blade, but its never cut him (its only a little Braun mens trimmmer so wouldn't do much damage anyway to be honest). I do know of one horse who went down with colic immediately after having this done, and wouldn't eat or touch anything for ages but I am not convinced that this was the reason why. I do think natural horsemanship and this kind of thing does have a place in life, and am interested to hear that there is a portion of brain dedicated to it, which I did not know before. Maybe I will have a rethink in future or do some more research first.
I was put off trimming whiskers many years ago ,a livery at the yard did it to her horse and every time he went to drink he jumped away from the bucket like he was getting electric shocks ,he would not drink for about 3 days ,may be like the horse you knew ,Any way he convinced me they are there to protect the face by touching things before the face does .
 

cobgoblin

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HI Shergar I have always done this (I realise that doesn't necessary mean its okay) but I just think it makes him look a bit smarter for when I compete. I must admit I have never really thought about it before, but he has always seemed to be fine with it, in fact I stand in his stable with him completely free and he will just stand there more often than not with his bottom lip drooping relaxed and doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. I will just put my left hand on his nose and guide the trimmmer over his whiskers with my right hand. Sometimes it tickles him so he will try to lick the blade, but its never cut him (its only a little Braun mens trimmmer so wouldn't do much damage anyway to be honest). I do know of one horse who went down with colic immediately after having this done, and wouldn't eat or touch anything for ages but I am not convinced that this was the reason why. I do think natural horsemanship and this kind of thing does have a place in life, and am interested to hear that there is a portion of brain dedicated to it, which I did not know before. Maybe I will have a rethink in future or do some more research first.


One of the reasons that a horse's whiskers are so important is that they have a triangular visual blind spot just in front of the end of their nose.
 
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