most unfavorite thing about geldings

[Redcatcher]

Unbelievable. The average gelding does not, and never will, need his sheath cleaned. The dead skin and sebum that accumulate, while not pretty, is normal and healthy. Even the bean is normal unless the gelding is having trouble urinating. As the old saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". There is the rare individual that requires cleaning but other than that, do your gelding a favor and leave it alone. Nature will take care of it in 99% of all cases.

 

[EweSheep]

WRONG! Sorry to say this but as a pre-vet student, it has been happening more often than not. Wild horses would have not need to be cleaned but we have domiscated the horses, slather all kind of stuff on their bodies, dirt will pile on their bellies while rolling, including sweating....you can guess the rest. It does not hurt to check once a year or your gelding is showing signs of problems of expelling urine or just plain dirty. Tail rubbing is one of the signs that underneath the tail, its sweaty or his penis needed to be cleaned. In some places that are cleaner than others, you can get by with once every two to three years without cleaning sheaths. Breeding stallions, never a problem because humans clean them up unless you go natural breedings in pastures.

On a very sensitive matter, look at a human male who was not circumized (sp), the care and maintaince is the same thing as geldings or any animals whose reproduction parts are similar in structure, they do get dirty faster and diseases get bad particuarly sweat, unclean facilities or untested mates.

I think sheath washings are case by case, not all horses need it. I'd rather check them out anyway as for health check up yearly basis.

 

[Redcatcher]

There is a big difference between checking a gelding's sheath and penis and the actual cleaning of it. All owners of male horses should regularly observe their horses when they drop and urinate.

Are you implying that feral horses do not get down in the dirt or sweat? And what on earth would anyone slather on their horses that would accumulate in the sheath?

 

[piecemaker]

When your gelding is standing around half out most of the time I think he most likely has a reason for it. I would not want my DH or DS to have to deal with the discomfort of a bean. Horses in the wild don't get their feet done or have shots or get cogins tested either. Our guys get that becuase they are our responisablity. That is just how it is when you get them, you get ALL of them, good and bad. Wouldn't trade my 2 bean makers for anything

piecemaker

 

[scbatz33]

We've had to clean stallions - it's common practice in the breeding shed. Never bothered me.

What DID bother me was my very first horse farm job I had to deal with a 3 year old who was scratched from the derby in 91. He had a HORRIBLE habit of not only dropping, but "pleasuring" himself when ever and I do mean WHENEVER you got under him to wrap legs, pick feet, groom - ANYTHING that required you bending over!

He was plain out disgusting, common horse!

ETA: I started carrying a sweat scraper in my back pocket. Kind or not, the idea of a 1200 lb stallion mounting me was never appealing.

 

[welsummerchicks]

They pretty much - well - do that. A certain number of times a day, just, normally, it doesn't really have that much to do with what someone else is doing.

Yes. People have actually done research studies on the subject.

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
with him, yes it did. He was aggressive and gross. He could be dead asleep, eating, standing doing nothing. Get under him to wrap his legs to exercise, or pick his feet or do anything, and out it would come.

I've worked with plenty of intact male horses. This one was a whole 'nother ball game.

 

[welsummerchicks]

But that is my whole point, those movements are just automatic.

Honestly I think that's more of a human reaction than a bad horse or a horse with some kind of weird problem. Horses don't really think about their weiners the way people do. It isn't really like the dirty guy in the raincoat at the park, flashing the little kiddies.

No, not all horses do that but a good many do, and it just doesn't mean anything. And yes, actually it is far commoner in geldings than stallions, which again proves it's not about testosterone. The important thing to remember is that those movements are just fairly automatic, and really have nothing to do with anything. Some do it more when there is motion around them, some do it more when they have nothing to do.

As a separate issue, the horse might have had bad training, been a PITA, or not be easy to work with but it doesn't have a whole lot to do with what he does with his weiner.

As for most geldings not needing to be cleaned, no. I've seen rather frequently seen horses that could not even walk, let alone urinate, because of buildup. It can actually block the flow of urine and that can cause very serious permanent harm. Some even think the constant irritation and damage to the tissue can be a factor in cancers and tumors growing on the area. It certainly is a factor in infections.

As far as doing them a favor, not being able to walk or urinate, infections and having to have their weiner chopped off because the opening is so damaged, is probably not any favor.

As for 'wild horses didn't have to have their bean cleaned out', I think if they couldn't walk or pee, something would just eat them. End of problem. Just like any health or foot problem with wild horses, they can't function well enough, they get et.

 

[twentynine]

All right I have read this thread front to back.

What are the signs I need to look for, I have two geldings, Cody 5/6 years old, Ranger 10/12 years old. Niether one seems to have a problem with urinating. Ranger will actually make water before he goes into stall. And with the mess Cody makes in his stall, I garauntee he can pee pretty good. I have seen both of them in the field, the stand rear legs spread, and seem to have a pretty good stream, no drips, sprays, or any other problem. Both of them will un-holster and I can't see any obvious problems, now I ain't saying that I have actually got an upclose view but like I said nothing obvious.

So what is it and how in the world do I go about doing it?

 

[patandchickens]

Wild horses don't get dentistry either, nor does anyone do anything with their feet. So there is no benefit to those things for domestic horses???

(e.t.a. -- to add to welsummerchicks' list of reasons to clean, I'd add that I've seen quite a number of cases of chronic tail-rubbing solved NOT by worming or Listerine but by sheath-cleaning)

Quote:
IMO if you have not done their sheaths thus far, it is worth picking an auspicious and convenient day and going after it at least this once so you can see what the real situation is down there. If they are clean and beanless and have nothing suspicious anywhere, it is kind of discretionary how often you want to do it again. If they turned out to be cruddier than you thought or have a large bean or have any sort of condition that makes you go Hm (lumps, bumps, etc where they shouldn't be) then it is a pretty reasonable idea to do it yearly. I have known a couple of horses over the years that really require it more often.

Oh, another situation where it is worth doing them at least once a year and preferably more often is if you have one of those uncommon geldings who, pastured with mares, will not only jump them but actually complete the whole act (except obviously for insemination), since if they are going to be USING the dipstick it really ought to be wiped clean from time to time b/c I've known mares to get nasty uterine infections that way. Most peoples' geldings don't do this, of course, or lack the opportunity, but there are enough exceptions I thought I'd mention it.

As to the "how to do it" part of your question, as you can see from this thread, it depends on your horse. Basically, some horses will let you have your way with them to whatever extent you require, with them just standing there. For those, the procedure should be fairly obvious -- pick or wash off the external crusties, then winkle a short-fingernailed finger into the opening at the end of the organ and feel around til you have figured out that one direction is the urethra and another direction is the little blind pouch that the bean can form in, and if there's a big bean there then get it out by whatever means seems workable. Or as RoPo says in some cases you can just kind of work the bean out from the outside.

Other horses won't let you do that. For them, either you roll your sleeve up and go spelunking (see previously-posted link for a post I wrote a long time ago describing more or less what you will do and find), or you wait til the vet can tranquilize the horse so that he dangles and you clean him externally as described above at that time. A few people will have the vet tranq the horse *specifically* for sheath cleaning; more often, it is something you do when the horse just happens to be sedated for some other reason e.g. stitches or teeth. Do be careful when cleaning a sedated horse, as depending on what drug is used they sometimes retain lightning-fast reflexes and you do not need your head kicked off unexpectedly.

If a horse just absolutely flat-out won't let you mess with him down there, it is not likely that he will curl up and die of it. That said, even though the number of problems avoided by sheath-cleaning is small, it is still SOMETHING and IMHO worth doing. And, as I say, how often to do it can depend on your individual horse. Some get super gross super fast, or have suspicious things you want to keep an eye on. Others make you go 'and I'm doing this again this year *why?*'

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat