Sheath cleaning a recently gelded horse

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HelenRod

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Hi, my horse was gelded 7 months ago at 4.5 years old, and after a week of gelding he had a lot of swelling & was in quite a lot of discomfort as you can imagine.

He is understandably very dubious about me going anywhere his sheath, i tonigjt have tried with warm water and a sponge to try and give it a clean but he is quite quick with his feet despite me holding his front leg up.

He regularly fully drops but as soon as i go anywhere near he sucks it back up, really don't want to go to the extreme of sedating him.

Any advice? If i keep regularly just keep going with the sponge for a few minutes each day etc will repetition help?

Thanks in advance ☺
 
Why do you need to clean it?
Every day after work, I would sponge him all over the sweaty bits with Gallop no rinse wash, so he gets eyes, face, girth and rear end between hind legs, but just a quick swish along belly, and only once he is happy about this, would I try more, and best to have assistance.
 
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Thanks, i have seen it dropped and it looks a little crusty (sorry have forgotten the correct terminology) & have seen black residue on his hindlegs.
 
A light wax flakiness but otherwise clean is normal, and I am not sure how to judge if cleaning is essential.
Certainly I think he probably needs it.
I would get my vet to do it!
Be wary of using anything like Hibiscub, as you want to remove gunk but leave the healthy bacteria which live there.
A bean sometimes forms at the forward end, and it should be removed.
 
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Don't shove anything up there and certainly not hibiscrub. Lube will soften crustiness if absolutely necessary. KY from tescos or lube from countrywide farmers.
 
Start with a hose-pipe - gently. Keep hold of a lower bit of his mane while aiming so he can't swing on you. Just keep hosing - closer and closer until you can direct a stream into the base of the sheath. Do this for a few days to desensitise him. then while keeping the hose on, shove a nice big, soaking, warm, wet sponge into the sheath.Leave it there for a few minutes to help soften any crustiness then - keeping the hose on - pull the sponge out. Then follow up with your hand slathered in KY jelly. It'll only take a few goes until he starts enjoying it!
 
JanetGeorge said:
Start with a hose-pipe - gently. Keep hold of a lower bit of his mane while aiming so he can't swing on you. Just keep hosing - closer and closer until you can direct a stream into the base of the sheath. Do this for a few days to desensitise him. then while keeping the hose on, shove a nice big, soaking, warm, wet sponge into the sheath.Leave it there for a few minutes to help soften any crustiness then - keeping the hose on - pull the sponge out. Then follow up with your hand slathered in KY jelly. It'll only take a few goes until he starts enjoying it!
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.... I refrain from chortling/ further comment!
but is the hose directing water on the inside at any stage..... and what about a bean, or will he be Ok after a few enjoyable sessions?
 
My local tack shop sells aloe vera gel. I now plaster this quickly on a dropped willy and when next seen it looks squeaky clean. After a few painless aloe vera applications I have found the horse more willing to let me examine him for a bean. The poor chap got an infection of the sheath and penis in the winter, had a biopsy taken and understandably became very weary of me going near it for a while but I am keen to avoid another infection. So far this is working.
 
Bonkers2 said:
.... I refrain from chortling/ further comment!
but is the hose directing water on the inside at any stage..... and what about a bean, or will he be Ok after a few enjoyable sessions?
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Not all geldings get beans. Depends on their environment, ie. shavings bed, dusty ménage, etc. My friends horse and mine got enormous beans. :(

A bean is best removed under sedation when your vet is there to do something else where your horse requires sedation. You need to be very careful about introducing any type of cleaning product into that area, the PH is at a certain level and you don't want to do anything to disrupt that otherwise you end up in a very vicous circle, I've seen it with a previous livery and it wasn't nice - he was constantly cleaning his horses sheath following infection after infection.

Best to leave it alone, they manage okay in the wild..... :)
 
Bonkers2 said:
.... I refrain from chortling/ further comment!
but is the hose directing water on the inside at any stage..... and what about a bean, or will he be Ok after a few enjoyable sessions?
Click to expand...

Oh yes - you start with outside and gently increase your accuracy. It is unlikely to remove a bean - but he has to be desensitised and start to enjoy it before you'll get that (without a kick in the head.) It rarely takes more than a couple of sessions to get them to the point you can do it all - and believe me, I've done a LOT of them.
 
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