Curious gelding noise?

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HayInMyWellies

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Apologies for unusual thread but have conflicting opinions on a peculiar subject...
I have noticed that when my/other's geldings are in the school, sometimes, particular in trot/canter, a peculiar squeaking noise can be heard coming from the sheath...
I have heard two schools of thought on this.
1. That it is just wind blowing up the sheath and making unusual noises.
2. That it means that the upper leg muscles aren't warmed up properly.
Does anyone know the answer? Does anyone else's gelding do this?
 
It's very common so don't worry. I have always been taught that it's air being drawn into and out of the sheath.

Sort of like a continual fanny fart!!
 
It's causes when they are tense so not a noise you want to hear.

It's when they tense their stomach muscle. Get him to relax and he will stop it.

My boy does it when asked to do something he does not want to do and gets cross. Or in warm up ring at a show.
 
I was told its because the sheath needs cleaning.

I'm plucking up the courage to do it this weekend as the noise is getting worse.

I'll let u know if the noise stops!
 
Ludoctro said:
It's causes when they are tense so not a noise you want to hear.

It's when they tense their stomach muscle. Get him to relax and he will stop it.

My boy does it when asked to do something he does not want to do and gets cross. Or in warm up ring at a show.
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This is what I understand too and it does tie in with when my horse is a bit tense schooling. Cleaning the sheath is unlikely to make any difference and really you should leave the sheat alone unless there are real issues (ie it's particularly smelly/messy)
 
I think you will hear an awful lot of "old wives" not to mention old husbands tales concerning this noise. It most definately is caused by his bits moving within his sheath but I don't think it indicates him being tense, cold, in need of cleaning etc., etc., even though all of them may apply for other reasons.

If you look at a cut away piccy of the male horse it should be obvious just how much stuff is in free suspension - bear in mind that all male equines also have to be able to "drop their yard" as it was delicated described to me by extremely experienced top E.C. lady instructor ( who seemed to wear an face half way between envy and disappointment) so it is all free to move - and does.

Nothing to worry about.
 
1stclassalan said:
I think you will hear an awful lot of "old wives" not to mention old husbands tales concerning this noise. It most definately is caused by his bits moving within his sheath but I don't think it indicates him being tense, cold, in need of cleaning etc., etc., even though all of them may apply for other reasons.

If you look at a cut away piccy of the male horse it should be obvious just how much stuff is in free suspension - bear in mind that all male equines also have to be able to "drop their yard" as it was delicated described to me by extremely experienced top E.C. lady instructor ( who seemed to wear an face half way between envy and disappointment) so it is all free to move - and does.

Nothing to worry about.
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my lad only makes the noise when tense or stressed, not only can i hear the noise i feel the tension through is body, sometimes acompanied with a wee teeth grind again he only does this when tense. At show grounds or doing something new which can upset him or being asked to work a little harder, he is quite a sensitive lad though. If you stand at the warm up of dressage comp its often a noise you can hear :D
 
I used to think it was down to dirt, but looking at horses when they make the noise, I think it is down to tension. My lad used to do it when he was tense, and he was definitely never dirty down there :D

I've never heard the noise when horses are at pasture.
 
Ludoctro said:
my lad only makes the noise when tense or stressed, not only can i hear the noise i feel the tension through is body, sometimes acompanied with a wee teeth grind again he only does this when tense. At show grounds or doing something new which can upset him or being asked to work a little harder, he is quite a sensitive lad though. If you stand at the warm up of dressage comp its often a noise you can hear :D
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I too have a gelding that only makes this noise in stressful (to him) situations.
I have known others that do it all the time.

OP if this is a new thing for your gelding I'd have a think about anything that has changed recently (new yard, new feed, new companions, increased demands from schooling/ completing etc.) and see if swapping that back makes the noise go away again.

If it's something he's always done - perhaps just ignore it.

Certainly wouldn't go fiddling about with his bits, putting lotions or potions on it will almost certainly cause more problems than it solves.
 
livingthedream said:
Don't worry too much about it. It's very common. May be a bit of tension but who doesn't feel tense sometimes?
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Yes defo agree, pretty common and not really anything to worry about if you do find it link to tension like i do, when mylad does it i just let him have a wee stretch for a min then carry on and it normally goes away as livingthedream says we all get tense at times :D
 
Suzie G said:
I was told its because the sheath needs cleaning.
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Don't think it can be this.... I had a colt gelded recently, laying down, so everything got a GOOD wash prior to the op. The next morning he was trit-trotting around his little paddock making that noise so I don't think it down to lack of cleanliness!!!
 
Interesting to see that there are still mixed responses on here. It isn't very common to hear from my boy, but have heard it from others horses. As the general response seems to be that it is from tension, does anyone know why it only occurs in gelding, not mares?
 
HayInMyWellies said:
Interesting to see that there are still mixed responses on here. It isn't very common to hear from my boy, but have heard it from others horses. As the general response seems to be that it is from tension, does anyone know why it only occurs in gelding, not mares?
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Read my earlier post about the anatomy - mare's simple do not have the equipment! Mind you my mare could make some very unladilike blasts with her rear end! She could also roar like a....... tempted to say like a dinosaur without anyone knowing what one sounded like! .... but let's say like I think a dinosaur should sound - this through her nose and throat at the same time - huge nostrils and may be a little rear and front feet stamp - on these occasions she could literally fire a salvo of poo an impressive distance too!

I hacked her quite a long way once - I could feel her getting rather anxious and suddenly met a group of young lads being rather boistrous around some cars ( I think a football team or supporters meeting up) - my mare reckoned them to be some kind of dragon and went into the full routine before doing an excellent passage passed them - all with their mouths agape!
 
1stclassalan said:
Read my earlier post about the anatomy - mare's simple do not have the equipment! Mind you my mare could make some very unladilike blasts with her rear end! She could also roar like a....... tempted to say like a dinosaur without anyone knowing what one sounded like! .... but let's say like I think a dinosaur should sound - this through her nose and throat at the same time - huge nostrils and may be a little rear and front feet stamp - on these occasions she could literally fire a salvo of poo an impressive distance too!

I hacked her quite a long way once - I could feel her getting rather anxious and suddenly met a group of young lads being rather boistrous around some cars ( I think a football team or supporters meeting up) - my mare reckoned them to be some kind of dragon and went into the full routine before doing an excellent passage passed them - all with their mouths agape!
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We used to have one that made dinosaur noises lol :)
 
My gelding makes this noise while turned out, pretty much all the time in any pace above a walk! Though it's more noticeable when he extends his paces/is showing off etc. So there may be a connection with muscle tension. However I thought getting them to work their stomach muscles, i.e. working the hindquarters properly, was a good thing!

His bits aren't particularly mucky and I do believe they're best left alone, once you start cleaning them you're more likely to have problems.
 
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