Bean in geldings sheath, what to clean it out with?

Birker2020

Birker2020

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Hi

I have NEVER done this on any of my horses previously although I did attempt to clean my current horses sheath about two years ago, which resulted in him lifting his leg to me. I've never really found it to be necessary before......

However a friend has brought to my attention the fact that a lot of geldings have 'beans' in their uretha's and I have found one the other day in my horse when I had a feel. :eek: :eek: My friends horse also has one, so we are splitting the cost of a sedalin and sedating our horses in order to carry out 'bean extraction' :eek: Apparently the removal of a large bean can have a dramatic effect on the way a horse moves, so watch this space! My friends horse spends a lot of time urinating, lots of small wees each time, so this could be why.:eek:

What kind of lubricant/soap can I use to do this job? It has to be something mild that can be used 'internally'. I don't want to go to the expense of a sheath cleaner product and was going to use baby oil but read that that is not the best idea.

I don't want to alter the PH balance within the sheath/uretha as this can lead to all kinds of problems. But what to use?

Here is more about the 'bean'. http://www.jeffreyrkelly.com/sheath-cleaning/
 
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Perissa

Perissa

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I don't use anything, but then I remove my gelding's bean a couple of times a year and it just pops out. If it were any larger it might require some sort of lubrication in which case I would use KY jelly. Baby Oil can be useful to shoot up the sheath from a syringe once in a while, but for a thorough clean I just use warm water and cotton wool, then rinse thoroughly in case there are any loose bits of cotton wool left. Warm water works really well as it softens all the crusty bits. The bean in my gelding is always quite soft and just pops out with a little pressure. He isn't sedated either so it can't hurt him.
 
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Goldenstar

Goldenstar

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Stencilface said:
Er, I just wait til they hang it out and grab it while I can! :D
Click to expand...

Me too.
Never miss a chance for a quick delve .
TBH if your washing sheaths regularily they become very compliant and it's easy to do.
We never need to sedate horses we have owned a while as its just something they are used to us doing and checking.
 
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Jackie JA Taylor

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It's a build up of sediment in the opening of urethra forming a firm plug. If they're fairly small they are easily removed and I recommend Lubigel/KY Jelly for cleaning and bean removal, it's totally non-irritant and doesn't have to be washed off.
 
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Spot_On

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I have either used a non fragranced baby wipe (as more readily to hand) or warm water and cotton wool. Never done more than 4 times a year, as you don't want to unbalance the good bacteria in the sheath.
 
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