How do you know when Sheath needs cleaning

[Horseback Rider]

My gelding has been quite grumpy the last few days and seems to be a bit apprehensive about passing urine so I have asked the vet to come up and sedate him so we can have a look and clean if necessary.

He does make that sqauking noise when in trot but TBH all the geldings I have ever known do that at some point ?

apart from the above are there any other signs to look for so you know it needs doing.
BTW he needs to be sedated so I can't just periodically check his bits to see if they need doing

 

[Daisychain]

Just get a load of baby lotion, and squirt it up in sheath area, it cleans everything off lol! It all drops off.

 

[ThoroughbredStar]

Just get a load of baby lotion, and squirt it up in sheath area, it cleans everything off lol! It all drops off.

Ah not heard of this one before! My boy also willl kick me if i try and touch his man bits. The baby lotion....you just squirt it up there and leave it?? Cause any irritation to horse at all?

I'd woul djust look everytime he lets it out and see if any flakey manny bits are there.

 

[cptrayes]

no no no no no!!!!

baby lotion is the wrong PH and you are asking for trouble if you upset the PH balance in there. Leave it alone unless your vet tells you something needs doing, it's a self-balancing environment and you touch it at your peril. This fashion for sheath cleaning is just that - a fashion. I haven't cleaned a sheath in over 30 years of owning multiple geldings - they aren't supposed to be messed with!

 

[3DE]

Get your hand up there with some sheath cleaner Don't forget the 'pea' in the urethra - this is the little bit that causes the pee probs

Edit - someone told me once the best way to get it out is to grow your little finger nail and hook it out. My response was BAULK!

 

[Wendy9464]

I noticed my gelding's bits were smelly when I was grooming him, had a chat to the vet and she sedated him and gave it a good clean, it was covered in smelly wet clay like dirt and stank.

 

[bensonthewonderhorse]

I agree that baby lotion is not good, especially if you cannot rinse it properly, my gelding does need his sheath cleaning periodically otherwise he ends up with a smelly sticky mess down his back legs!!! I now use chestfields sheath cleaner with is ph balanced and doesn't cause any irritation, also it's a spray so you can be a little distance away! Seems to remove the smeg with out you having to scrub and pick to much!

 

[Birker2020]

My gelding has been quite grumpy the last few days and seems to be a bit apprehensive about passing urine so I have asked the vet to come up and sedate him so we can have a look and clean if necessary.

He does make that sqauking noise when in trot but TBH all the geldings I have ever known do that at some point ?

apart from the above are there any other signs to look for so you know it needs doing.
BTW he needs to be sedated so I can't just periodically check his bits to see if they need doing

I''ve got to say that in 15 years of owning geldings I've only cleaned a sheath once, and as far as I was led to believe the swarking noise you refer to is made by entry of air into the sheath which makes a noise as it moves between the sheath and penis.

 

[Daisychain]

Well im gonna have to disagree with the baby lotion thing... If there privates are covered in cornflakes etc, then a good daub of this gets it looking like new and it is safe for a new born babies bum too lol!

Dirty sheaths and things are dangerous actually, a build up of smegma etc around the privates is actually carcinogenic, so i think it helps to keep clean.

 

[paulineh]

The cleaning of a Stallions / Geldings Sheath should be done twice a year.

I would get a bucket of mild warm soapy water, a pair of rubber or similar kind of gloves and sponge.

You can use a syringe 20 or 50 mil so that you can get the water up the sheath.

I would then (If the horse allows) smear the clean area with baby oil.

A dirty sheath is not a healthy one. Just think how you would feel if you did not wash your private areas.

 

[Horseback Rider]

Vet came and did it today and there was alot of stuff up there and it was little tender. Vet said some horses never need it done and some do its just one of those things

 

[PennyJ]

I know it needs doing when he starts getting stickly black trails down his back legs and/or it starts to smell strongly. My gelding has had trouble in the past resulting in having the vet out for massively swollen private bits and a huge smegma bean having to be taken out, so he gets a really good clean out once a year under sedation and then he is left alone until it starts smelling or the black gunk appears. Then he gets a minor clean up (he won't drop it, although he lets you know by the faces he pulls that he quite likes someone rummaging about up there)