How many of you clean your geldings crown jewels?

I had never checked for a bean on my cob gelding till Feb this year (having read the thread on here), I've always picked at the flaky bits but never knew where the bean would be -I checked and there was THE most enormous bean (between the size of a Malteser and a ping pong ball) - I had to squeeze it out as it wouldn;t be pinged out....poor boy was so relieved and I felt so guilty :(
 
My foals, yearlings all get theirs cleaned and used to being handled from a early age. Most actually lift a leg now to help me as it's part off their normal grooming etc.
 
I keep an eye but leave well alone. At the age of 9 Dave has just discovered the ladies and is busy cleaning it himself several times a day ....... :D
 
I don't think everyone's situation or horse is the same. Personally I like my horses to be comfortable with being touched everywhere - and that starts as babies. I don't want to have the vet out and the horses says - 'well I don't do getting touched there thank you very much' and proceeds to try and kick the vet or myself.

I have had some geldings that need cleaned once a month as otherwise they smell and are uncomfortable. Other geldings seem to remain clean for a long time. Different vets will have different opinions too. I am training to be a vet and different countries teach their vets really quite different techniques. You need to go with the advice of a vet/professional you trust and what suits your own horse. I never use chemicals when sheath cleaning - I prefer to do it regularly with just water. I have sensitive skin - can you imagine haveing a reaction to sheath cleaner :eek: I don't think there is anything wrong with cleaners, baby oil etc but I wold test it somewhere less sensitive first!
 
jesstickle said:
I guess because the maggots they use in hospital (which are from blowfly) preferentially eat decaying flesh. The ones that pick on horses must not though. Eughh.
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But maggots 'in the wild' have no chance for preference. If they hatch from eggs laid on a carcase, they eat rotting flesh. If they hatch from eggs laid on a gelding's penis and get into the sheath, they eat live flesh! Blowflies will lay their eggs anywhere they think will support their 'babies'.

Personally I like my horses to be comfortable with being touched everywhere - and that starts as babies. I don't want to have the vet out and the horses says - 'well I don't do getting touched there thank you very much' and proceeds to try and kick the vet or myself.
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EXACTLY!! I have just had a 6 year old stallion gelding (and sarcoids on his sheath & scrotum removed at the same time) and he comes into the wash box twice a day to have his wounds hosed and sprayed with Terramycin spray with NO problems! And my 5 year old stallion has a swollen sheath - for reasons the vets CANNOT get to the bottom of - we have to massage it 4 times a day to disperse the swelling - I don't even have to put a headcollar on him!

The yearling colts are still a bit 'sensitive' around their boy bits (they KNOW I have plans for them they won't like :D) so we're giving them a few sessions with the hose BEFORE they get gelded - right after the op. won't be a good time to teach them about being handled there!
 
Mine will kick if you go near his, bless him, protecting things that arn't there :rolleyes: but I spoke to the vet about it and she said don't worry about it unless it gets manky and she'll come over and clean it under sedation if neccaserry but that's only if it's disgusting and have no other option x
 
I leave it well alone!! Partly cause I'd get booted in the head and also vet said not to touch it as it'll clean itself. The amount he dangles it out though means I can keep an eye on it!!
 
After I ride in the summer I give Wings a squirt round his sheath as he gets very sweaty. I've never really washed Wings though, would there be signs if a horse needed cleaning? Like, a different colour urine or trouble weeing etc.?
 
I have got 4 gelding.
3 seem to have no problems, but the other one sometimes behaves as if he has an itch he just can't scratch, so I give his sheath a wash, always seems fine afterwards.
 
One of my old livery horses had a lot of dead skin etc. on his willie. Was peeling it off (which he thought was heaven!) when the people from the holiday cottage went by. "Oh look, Mummy, Daddy. That lady's milking that horse!"
 
last time I cleaned my boys bits he got an infection had to call out the vet and was on a weeks course of antibiotics. She said that she doesnt clean, leave well alone.
 
This is the first time i've owned a gelding and I really wasnt sure about if I should clean him there. Only recently has his sheath made a noise occasionally when he trots so when i've seen him with his willy out i've picked off some of the dead skin but by the time i go to get a glove and water he has put it away again! He doesnt seem that bothered apart from turning his head to look at me as if to say umm stop touching my private parts.
 
Interesting thread for me as I lost our pony two years ago from penis cancer.
We had him for 17years and never cleaned him as he would kick out.
When he had his penis removed I blamed myself for not cleaning him and the vets said it was not normal to clean a sheath and hadn't caused the SCC that he died from.
I have another gelding now who constantly hangs loose unlike Canasta but I have not gone in there bar with a hose!
I will probably always feel quilty about Canasta but still can't bring myself to clean new one!
 
Ok my horse is a freak... he quite likes it being done :o though I only clean the sheath when it is really smelly and there is black stuff down the legs, so probs about 1 or 2 times a year. I think geldings, obv un-natural, seem to get 'dirtier' than stallions.
 
We have one in training that needs done fairly regularly. His owner was a bit hit and miss with care over the years and he apparently had "mild rumbling kidney infections" for a long time. We kept an eye on him for the first few weeks and he always seemed to wait until he was cross legged desperate to pee before he did. Spoke to vet who said he'd come and have a look and I asked about cleaning and he said would be worth giving it a go. By the time vet arrived I had a bean the size of a golf ball to show him and he had a further look around and found alot more gunk. Horse then started peeing every few mins...it seemed to be a novelty to him that he could! We keep him cleaned regularly as he can be prone to issues and generally he tells us when he needs done....ie if he needs done he drops, looks at me, looks at his nether regions and waits patiently!!
 
:eek:My gelding has a very dirty sheath, once a week I clean it out with warm water and a sponge, it is a yucky job!! :eek: Every time he drops his "undercarriage", I leap on it like a frustrated spinster (no offence to any spinsters) :o and gently clean the yucky yellow stuff off - my god his muscles are strong as I am hanging on to it, he is frantically trying to suck it back up - must look quite strange. :eek:
 
I have a stallion and a gelding and the only time I go near it is when I am bathing them because they both 'relax' enough for it to all hang out, I give it a quick spray with the hose!!:)
 
Dogs can be pretty gross. Mine likes to eat poo, roll in dead things, lick his bits and then try and lick me. I think that's pretty horrid really. I still love him though :)
 
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