People with geldings...the Bean?

HBM1 said:
Dorian..my understanding of why stallions rarely if ever get them.. Even if not covering, is that they .. How to say - pleasure themselves quite a bit - I know my boy does and he has not been used in breeding yet. He would beat hell out of any developing beans.
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LOL!! The tummy rub? I know it well - again, not personally :p but I've never seen it ... erm ... end if you know what I mean, so no flushing mechanism. But wouldn't urination have the same effect it all comes out the same hose so to speak :D
 
F's now disappears whenever I try to look! - I think he has had enough of having it poked and prodded :D

dorian I think HBM1 meant that if one was forming it would be disloged/broken up by the actual physical affect of the bashing (its not just stallions either though!)
 
doriangrey said:
I don't think that this has been proved? But I'm happy to be told otherwise. I've always checked for lumps and bumps especially as my stallion was grey. What I think is that washing promotes more production of smegma/or removes a protective barrier and that could be a significant factor in infection. Obviously any anomoly should be be checked by a vet and if the OP's horse has a painful blockage then I'd be calling a vet.
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Cancer link is, I think, well documented in humans, with circumcized males having lower rates of penile cancer. But what age does that happen at? If we count years from puberty, then for horses to suffer from it on any regular basis, it would mean a lot of men between the ages of 15 and 35 having penile cancer and I'm not sure that's the case? I suspect if I got off my butt to do the research they would mostly be a lot older before that happened, due to long term exposure to the carcinogenic effects.

Just a guess.
 
Ester yes..that and the constant inand out usage. I am afraid my boy has no shame and merrily does it in his stable regardless of who is looking.
 
I have never shoved my hand in his sheath as he will drop it on command. When its out and looks a bit grubby I usually give it a quick sponge down with a soft clean baby sponge and plain water.

Have decided to get vet out as I can't see can't see any possible way of getting this thing out. I don't think its causing any blockage but don't see my boy peeing very often so hard to tell, but not prepared to leave it.

Thanks for all the replies and I'm sure the great 'wash it or not' debate will continue!
 
I don't do my boys routinely. My ginger boy has never been done, because I can see he doesn't have a problem, neither did my ginger pony. My old grey, who I have had since he was four, and is now eighteen, has been 'de-beaned' probably three times in all those years. Each time it was because I saw him struggling to pee, and not able to 'drop'. He was squirting up onto his belly. I use a mild, slightly warm, solution of Infacare baby bath on a very soft, small sponge. I use this in my hand to start the softening process, and loosen some of the deep smegma inside the sheath. This is just to make it easier, and reduce friction for when I go in to hunt the bean. The only thing I put on my hand when I go in in earnest, is a good glob of KY jelly. I very gently put my little finger in the end of the urethra, and carefully loosen the lump until it pops out. They have generally been surprisingly large. I do NOT 'clean the sheath' - all I do is extract the bean. I know it is effective, because each time I have done it, the old boy has stretched out, dropped, and grunted his way through the hugest wee imaginable ;) I use Infacare, and KY simply because if it is safe enough to use on 'delicate' human parts, I reckon it will be safe enough to use on 'delicate' horse parts :)
 
HBM1 said:
Dorian..my understanding of why stallions rarely if ever get them.. Even if not covering, is that they .. How to say - pleasure themselves quite a bit - I know my boy does and he has not been used in breeding yet. He would beat hell out of any developing beans.
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My stallion does this ^^^ . He is 10 years old and has never been used for breeding but he regularly wishfully thinks about it, sometimes several times a day! Sometimes he just lets it hang and sort of expands and contracts it, other times doing the whole thrusting thing on the belly. He rarely even has crusty bits.

In the ten years I have had my gelding I have only ever seen him get one erection and it didn't last very long (I was grooming him at the time). He has never belly rubbed that I have seen. He hangs loose every time I groom him and his is always far crustier than my stallion unless I have just cleaned him. I used to use baby oil but was warned off that by the vet and now only use warm water and cotton wool.
 
cptrayes said:
Cancer link is, I think, well documented in humans, with circumcized males having lower rates of penile cancer. But what age does that happen at? If we count years from puberty, then for horses to suffer from it on any regular basis, it would mean a lot of men between the ages of 15 and 35 having penile cancer and I'm not sure that's the case? I suspect if I got off my butt to do the research they would mostly be a lot older before that happened, due to long term exposure to the carcinogenic effects.

Just a guess.
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I haven't looked into any research, but my first thoughts would be - is it smegma that is carcinogenic or whatever it is that gets caught onto it chemical-wise, like fat cells storing all sorts of poison, or even cleaning products like shower gel? Probably another thread for another forum, and I really don't know. No healthy, male animal was ever designed to be circumcised (I'm not anti) and was probably only (self) cleaned with water. I don't either mean to belittle anyone that chooses to wash their horses sheath because I decided not to do it. I was just kind of wondering - I'm not a scientist, but my husband is and sometimes some of the 'research' is very suspect.
 
ester said:
We never did it on any of the RS ponies when I was younger either- an none ever got any smegma down their legs so I wonder if some produce more than others/get it dirtier- F has always been good at sucking up straw for example.
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I agree, just like some horses have fleshier mouths than others my gelding has a particularly fleshy sheath. I tend only to intervene if he appears to be having problems weeing or if his legs become caked in grey goo. When I have had a poke around he is full of grim smelling thick gunk, I couldn't really just leave it so I use a mild sheath cleaner. It usually stays cleans for months but in hot weather it can take just days to get smelly again. The vet says he is just like that and to carry on intervening when necessary, if I didn't flies would come from a 50 mile radius!
 
dunkley said:
I don't do my boys routinely. My ginger boy has never been done, because I can see he doesn't have a problem, neither did my ginger pony. My old grey, who I have had since he was four, and is now eighteen, has been 'de-beaned' probably three times in all those years. Each time it was because I saw him struggling to pee, and not able to 'drop'. He was squirting up onto his belly. I use a mild, slightly warm, solution of Infacare baby bath on a very soft, small sponge. I use this in my hand to start the softening process, and loosen some of the deep smegma inside the sheath. This is just to make it easier, and reduce friction for when I go in to hunt the bean. The only thing I put on my hand when I go in in earnest, is a good glob of KY jelly. I very gently put my little finger in the end of the urethra, and carefully loosen the lump until it pops out. They have generally been surprisingly large. I do NOT 'clean the sheath' - all I do is extract the bean. I know it is effective, because each time I have done it, the old boy has stretched out, dropped, and grunted his way through the hugest wee imaginable ;) I use Infacare, and KY simply because if it is safe enough to use on 'delicate' human parts, I reckon it will be safe enough to use on 'delicate' horse parts :)
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That sounds very effective - maybe some horses are susceptible? There is nothing worse than wanting a huge pee :o
 
Weirdly enough I tackled 'the bean' today after giving my horse's willy a quick rinse with a sponge and plain water.

He had two very large beans up there. Luckily my gelding has no qualms about me messing about with his bits, in fact quite the opposite!

There is a pocket just either side and underneath the urethra where smegma builds up. I gently squeezed to dislodge the beans, had to be quite firm as they were quite large. If your gelding is fine with you handling him you should be able to do it yourself, but it might be wise to watch a vet do it first.

The last time I went bean hunting was two years ago, so I must make a mental note to do it more often before they get too big.
 
This bean is approximately 1.5" in diameter - god knows how long its been there but I do check my boys bits quite often! We did a bit of lubricating and some gentle squeezing but it wasn't budging.
 
You might have to get a bit more firm with it, luckily my boy is pretty unfased so I can rummage about a bit.
 
I used to be firmly in the no way am I fiddling with his bits camp, and none of my previous gelding ever needed anything doing, but my current cob had filthy back legs when I picked him up so as soon as it was safe, I tried washing it off. Took me a few goes for him to put up with rummaging, but found a butter bean-sized bean, and he looked much happier once gone!

He now hangs down when he wants it cleaning :) I try to leave alone as much as possible to prevent disrupting natural 'flora' too much, but if it's looking crusty, or he has marks on his back legs, in I go... Like the others, I always watch him wee when I can to check flow, and check for a bean whenever he's hanging loose or I'm cleaning. Haven't had a bean since, and needing to wash less often now - I just make sure I do a proper job whenever I do it. I go for tiny sponge, warm water with a drop of baby shampoo and a drop of baby oil to get rid of gunk, then just warm water and sponge to rinse, finished by a dab of KY...then washing my hands for the next hour trying to get rid of the smell!
 
Yes...should clarify the bean is found beneath the urethral orifice not in the urethra itself...in a pocket called the diverticulum...I too until today was confused having read on the subject, thinking they were telling me to stick my finger into the urethral orifice...am sure my darling would not have appreciated THAT !!...washed my boy today (and I am fairly regular with cleaning his willy of any gunky bits) and to my surprise found a very large hard formation under the urethral orifice...black externally...and on picking away a grey colour underneath...managed to pick probably a 1/4 of it away until he got antsy (he is a very patient boy)...so then left it alone...am sending hubbie to supermarket tomoz to get some KY jelly (I told him to tell the cashier it is for our horse..am sure she will believe him ;-)...I have to work, that is my excuse...:-)..will squirt it around offending bean liberally and pray for it to soften and then try to squeeze it out over next few days...might even take a piccie if anyone interested...as I am a nurse, I thought perhaps some Xylocaine jelly (syringe type used for human male catheterisations) may also come in handy to anaesthetise the part to facilitate more effective removal...will give that a go too...may negate having to call the vet in...cheers...Pat
 
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I'm another who has never done the sheath cleaning thing, in 45 odd years of horse owning.

I seem to remember a product came out, was heavily advertised, and then sheath cleaning became the norm ( but not for me).

I check my geldings when they pee, for colour and quantity and would get the vet if I saw signs of any discomfort.
 
Had my first experience of finding and removing a bean a few days ago. Noticed my elderly gelding was spraying squint in several directions whilst peeing, so decided to investigate. Sure enough, after a bit of manipulation, out popped a creamy coloured hard lump of smegma which did indeed look like a butter bean.
 
Sorry to resurrect old thread but think I may need to tackle this issue soon as black gunk appearing on legs and spraying when weeing.

My question is how do you get them to keep their penis out so you can get to the bean. My lad pulls his in the moment I go towards it!!
 
I have to clean my boy's sheath regularly as he has melanomas. Unfortunately he will not allow me to do it- he tries to take my head off!

I therefore sedate him. Oral sedation with Sedalin is fine for him and ACP has the added benefit of making everything relaxed so it all drops out naturally. If you are struggling, I wouldn't hesitate to get a tube from your vet.

In terms of the actual cleaning just use warm water with a splash of liquid paraffin in it. Anything else will interfere with the ph balance in there and cause more problems.
 
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