Cleaning sheath

If they get the black gunk on their legs etc then it's worth cleaning as it attracts flies and you can end up with maggots up there :eek: but if not i leave well alone. :)
 
Sirocco said:
If they get the black gunk on their legs etc then it's worth cleaning as it attracts flies and you can end up with maggots up there :eek: but if not i leave well alone. :)
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There's a horse on our yard which does this and he has his cleaned quite regularly.

I've rarely ever cleaned my horses ones as they've always remained OK, but my WBs do-dah is really crusty, worse than 'cornflakes' - more like black, crunchy nut clusters. It doesn't smell, he's in no discomfort and he doesn't have any gunk coming down his legs.

Before I read this thread my intention was to give it a spray with some johnsons baby oil to 'soften' the crusts, then a few days later to try and gently start to remove them with warm water and sheath cleaner.

After reading this I'm not sure if I should do that or not now?
 
I've always just squirted baby oil on my boys sheath when it's hot and he's just hanging out :D. Cleans itself.
 
MissMincePie&Brandy said:
There's a horse on our yard which does this and he has his cleaned quite regularly.

I've rarely ever cleaned my horses ones as they've always remained OK, but my WBs do-dah is really crusty, worse than 'cornflakes' - more like black, crunchy nut clusters. It doesn't smell, he's in no discomfort and he doesn't have any gunk coming down his legs.

Before I read this thread my intention was to give it a spray with some johnsons baby oil to 'soften' the crusts, then a few days later to try and gently start to remove them with warm water and sheath cleaner.

After reading this I'm not sure if I should do that or not now?
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We've had plenty of boys and all have been left alone and are absolutely fine. I don't clean unless absolutely neccessary. The boy we had that got the gunky legs got done about 4-6 times a year with sheath cleaner which i found worked the best. The vet initally did it with hibiscrub under sedation but he actually didn't mind me doing it at all. I'd never bother unless they had a problem.
 
My older boy is quite shy, and doesn't let it all hang out very often. When he does I have a quick peak to see what the encrustations are like, and I will pick off (gently) any "cornflakes" (OMG I'm never going to look at a cornflake in the same way every again :o )

It takes timing and coordination, as I'll only ever do it when there are no classes on at the school, because Pinto is stabled next to the pony stalls, and he always gets an erection when I do the picking :o :eek: not something I really want to explain to a covey of 8yos!
 
xxMozlarxx said:
Mmmm:confused::confused: wonder why all of mine get this gunk then..dusty straw or something, seems odd
No..never had flies or maggots!!
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We tried a couple of different beddings and it didn't seem to make a difference (shavings, straw and megazorb) and it happened when he was living out too. He only had maggots once and he started kicking his belly so it was obvious something was wrong, luckily we only found a few tiny ones but obviously enough to irritate him.
 
As with cleaning 'bits' of any sort.. i think if you over clean, it can encourage the production of more willy grease. I think my lad would launch me into orbit if i even went near his willy. So i leave well alone!
 
Sirocco said:
We tried a couple of different beddings and it didn't seem to make a difference (shavings, straw and megazorb) and it happened when he was living out too. He only had maggots once and he started kicking his belly so it was obvious something was wrong, luckily we only found a few tiny ones but obviously enough to irritate him.
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Yes..2 of mine have fairly recently had their keep changed to out 24/7 and it's still the same..just unlucky then. I agree that too much cleaning could be a problem which is why I don't..Ive used some natural cleaner before but doesnt seem to do much.
 
NickyS said:
I soo happend to get a quick look one day before he put it back and I noticed it was flakey and I don't know if this is true but if it makes that funny notice when you ride it means it needs cleaned ?
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Flaky is ok. The funny noise is just air trapped up is what I was told.
A good indicator is smell, or smegma on the hindlegs.

If it does need to be cleaned, I find the best way to get my lad to drop is to start cleaning and eventually he will. Be gentle, otherwise you'll have no hope of him dropping.

Unless it needs to be done, I'd leave it alone, I was told that the more you clean it, the more it'll need to be done.
 
None of my 3 will drop once I 'go in' in fact if I even look in the general direction they whip it up quick, funnily enough they have no problem with me doing it and fall asleep..
 
I've been doing some research because so many people on here are recommending the use of baby oil inside the sheath that I thought I must be wrong. It is well documented as predisposing yeast infections in women using it for sex, altering the PH balance in favour of bacterial infections, and it is a by product of petrol production which eats latex condoms. Personally, I wouldn't stick that up a horse's sheath.
 
ailbheg said:
It all depends on the horse I suppose. :)
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I think they just don't like me :(:( LOL.
CPTrayes..I get your point on this totally..haven't used baby oil myself as I think it would make my boys greasy willys worse, but I do have a friend with a very old mad TB who has used baby oil on his flaky one for years, didn't seem to cause a problem
 
Goodness me, this topic seems to generate more friction than barefoot hoof care :p

The "bean" is indeed to be found in the urethra... the urethral fossa to be precise. Whilst I have owned my horse for 5 years, and clean the sheath when it is clear that the cornflakes are causing discomfort (a bit like chapped lips, you can see irritated skin), I have only ever removed one bean - and the urethra is exactly where it came from.

If you have never cleaned your horse's sheath, it is unlikely you would become familiar with the place a bean becomes lodged :p

Here's a handy picture, so people will know one when they see one (and when they get big enough, they do indeed restrict urine flow):
http://equinevetblog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/magical-fruit.html
ETA - I would certainly agree if you think your horse will kick your head off, you maybe need to consider a programme of progressive sensitisation... there's no reason for a horse to object if they know it will not be painful or cause discomfort. Mine can be done loose in the field - he cocks a hind leg to allow me better access and clearly feels better when the worst of the sharp black bits have been removed - but I did have to train him so that he understood that nothing bad was going to happen.
 
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tickle/scratch his back till it drops, click your fingers when it does and reward immediately with treats
repeat often

He'll learn to drop when you click:D
 
:confused::confused:..have you read the barefoot posts...this is a nice thread! Never seen irritated skin though on any of my 3 geldings thankfully.
Thanks for the clicking advice, I manage to get the job done when needed so it's not really a prob. :)
 
As a new time owner and certainly the first time I've looked after a gelding, it would be really useful if there were some pictures so you could see what normal looked like! I've ridden for years but when you don't own, you don't spend a huge amount of time with your head between the riding school or friends horses legs!! I've resorted to google but goodness knows what my work IT make of me searching for pictures of horses bits!

Most of the horses on our yard are girls but I'm going to have to try and get close enough to the 2 boys on the yard to do a comparison!
 
cptrayes said:
I've been doing some research because so many people on here are recommending the use of baby oil inside the sheath that I thought I must be wrong. It is well documented as predisposing yeast infections in women using it for sex, altering the PH balance in favour of bacterial infections, and it is a by product of petrol production which eats latex condoms. Personally, I wouldn't stick that up a horse's sheath.
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This is very interesting. I shall now not be spraying it on my boys crusty do-dah (I bought a 500ml bottle of it yesterday as well!).
Interestingly, the horse (on our yard) who has his willy sprayed with baby oil regularly is the horse that suffers from the greasy smegma down his back legs - I wonder if that is due to the use of the baby oil?

Is there a product that would safely soften the crusty bits on my gelding, or should I leave it alone. As I said before his willy is worse than a bit flaky, he has what I would describe as crunchy nut clusters on it. (I might take a photo if anyones interested to see :o)
 
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Don't have any pictures of it out lol but this is the manky legs we've been talking about, the stuff is ridiculously hard to get off:

300c7203.jpg
 
i get the vet in every 6 months to my gelding as he need sedating .


I am a beliver of doing it once a year. Using lint warm water mediated soap disposable gloves.:)
 
Is there a product that would safely soften the crusty bits on my gelding, or should I leave it alone. As I said before his willy is worse than a bit flaky, he has what I would describe as crunchy nut clusters on it.
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KY Jelly ;)
 
Woo I started some threads before but I've never had this much response ! Quite exciting actually :)
It was good to hear different people opinions on the matter. I have been recommended by the vet to clean my boys sheath once a month and I took peoples advice and gave him a good groom (especially around his face because that's his favourite) while he was eating his food and he dropped it out.
 
My boy is a bit of an exhibitionist and hence Mr Winky seems to be out more times than in (much to my embarrassment and to the amusement of those at the yard). I've not yet ventured into cleaning inside, but was told it's best to at least check inside the sheath area every few months to ensure there is no swelling or any nasties lurking in there.
My late gelding was having some problems with peeing properly and kept dripping pee and was sweating heaps in his nether regions. The vet was called and after a quick rummage he found a sizable smegma bean. Honestly in 30 years of horse ownership I'd not heard of them before. Anyway, he removed it and said they can cause all sorts of problems if left in there for too long as can block the uretha.
After that, I would don the rubber gloves and make checks every few weeks and whilst there clean out any gunk inside. I only ever cleaned Mr Winky itself in the warmer months with a quick hose and a quick rub down to remove any dirt or flakey bits.
My new boy tends to like to let it all hang out all the time (especially when being groomed, during an ear scratch, tail tickle, physio massage and heck most of the time) and during a recent grooming session he started to make grunting noises and tensing his body. I had no idea what was going on until I bent down to pick up a dandy brush and I can only tell you it damned near had my eye out as Mr Winky had turned into Mr Stiffy :eek:(apologies to those of you who are faint hearted). Thankfully no one else was around at the time or else I'd be copping plenty of flack from the other owners.
Oh the joys of horse ownership. And I thought being married was difficult enough :D
 
I had no idea what was going on until I bent down to pick up a dandy brush and I can only tell you it damned near had my eye out as Mr Winky had turned into Mr Stiffy (apologies to those of you who are faint hearted). Thankfully no one else was around at the time or else I'd be copping plenty of flack from the other owners.
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You have definitely made me LOL :D

I have a dangly exhibitionist too (many photos have had to be photoshopped to protect the innocent :D), but Mr Stiffy only makes an appearance when he's waking up after a snooze. It's his morning glory ;) (and a horrible crusty one it is at that...)
 
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