# Sheath cleaning



## WashingtonCowgirl (Oct 12, 2011)

Looking for tips on sheath cleaning. I've done full sized horses before, but never minis and noticed this morning Spanky needs his done bad lol


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## Sandy B (Oct 12, 2011)

I have yet to do it either, but I ams use the same principles apply. Just have to be on your knees to get it done


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## MindyLee (Oct 12, 2011)

I buy cheap wash cloths from the $ store and use them. That way when Im done, I can just toss it out. Otherwise, I just use warm soapy water and the wash cloth and rise well. Takes a total of 5 minutes to do.


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## mydaddysjag (Oct 12, 2011)

I have a gelding who needs done BAD, but I think Im going to have to get the vet to sedate him, and do his teeth and sheath the same day, as he isnt cooperative about sheath cleaning.

When I clean sheaths, I prefer to use KY Jelly instead of soap or cleansers. They can be irritating if not 100% rinses off, and also kill off healthy bacteria. The ky jelly lubricates everything to let the crud wipe off, and lubricates to remove the bean, but if you dont get every speck rinsed, no big deal. Actually, Ive been known to apply Ky in the morning, and clean sheaths in the evening. Gives it some time to loosen everything up.


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## albahurst (Oct 12, 2011)

mydaddysjag said:


> I have a gelding who needs done BAD, but I think Im going to have to get the vet to sedate him, and do his teeth and sheath the same day, as he isnt cooperative about sheath cleaning.
> 
> When I clean sheaths, I prefer to use KY Jelly instead of soap or cleansers. They can be irritating if not 100% rinses off, and also kill off healthy bacteria. The ky jelly lubricates everything to let the crud wipe off, and lubricates to remove the bean, but if you dont get every speck rinsed, no big deal. Actually, Ive been known to apply Ky in the morning, and clean sheaths in the evening. Gives it some time to loosen everything up.


Now, that is a great idea! Thanks for sharing~


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## Zipper (Oct 13, 2011)

My vet told me KY jelly also and it works great put on in morning and it wipes off at night it is

water based so it is great and no work at all.


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## Koriana (Oct 13, 2011)

The only problem is the looks from the drugstore when you buy buckets of KY if you have a few stallions lol


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## Champ (Oct 13, 2011)

I have the vet do my boys sheaths & teeth while they are sedated but for in between the sheath cleanings I use babywipes to help keep them clean.


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## mydaddysjag (Oct 13, 2011)

If you have a bunch of boys, it might be more economic to buy one of the big bottles or even gallons of OB lubricant from tractor supply, its normally around the cattle supplies in my store. 8oz is around $4 at my store, ive never priced the gallon though, I wouldnt go through that much in 5 years lol


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## Sandy B (Oct 13, 2011)

I use warm water, and Excalibur Sheeth cleaner. It has a nice scent and helps clean without irritation and it goes a long way. None of the boys I have ever owned have voluntarily let me clean their sheath and penis. So I do sedate with a bit of Ace to make them drop.


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## albahurst (Oct 13, 2011)

Sandy- I have heard that one should not use ACE on stallions. Have you had any problems with this drug when using it?


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## Sandee (Oct 13, 2011)

Sandy B said:


> I use warm water, and Excalibur Sheeth cleaner. It has a nice scent and helps clean without irritation and it goes a long way. None of the boys I have ever owned have voluntarily let me clean their sheath and penis. So I do sedate with a bit of Ace to make them drop.


LOL --That makes me think of my boys and I have to chuckle. The stallion (now a gelding) thinks that sheath cleaning is fun. In fact he enjoys it so much that's it's just eeuuuu. However, I have an old gelding (23) who's been a gelding since he was 7 and if you even THINK about cleaning he sucks up so far you can't find him. I guess he feels that he let someone get too close once when he was 7 and he is now gonna "protect" what's left. LOL

Oh, I too use the KY jelly. With only 2 it doesn't take all that much.


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## Nathan Luszcz (Oct 13, 2011)

NEVER EVER GIVE ACEPROMAZINE TO STALLIONS. Ever. Period, end of story. There is a significant risk of penile paralysis, which is the inability to retract the penis. This can be permanent, and more often than not results in amputation of the penis. The risk is even higher if the stallion is sexually excited, or if the stallion becomes sexually excited (even benign masterbation) while under sedation. Ace is reasonably safe for geldings, since the risk is 100x lower, plus, amputation of a gelding isn't career ending like it is for a stallion (its still serious! But it won't end their breeding career as well).

If you decide to use lube, ONLY use a sterile lube, NOT OB lube. And use small containers, not huge ones (if you don't use it right away, it'll grow bacteria.)

NEVER use baby wipes, or other types of soap. If you MUST use soap, use small amounts of Ivory. No scents, dyes, or other added chemicals, which can cause significant irritation. And rinse VERY VERY well. I personally wouldn't touch Excaliber with a ten foot pole. If you use soap, only wash once a year. Cleaning with soap too often can (believe it or not) CAUSE an infection because the soap kills the good bacteria, and allows the bad bacteria to take over. The rest of the time, use plain ol water. Its even better (especially for stallions, who are willing to drop easily) to use plain warm water year round. For breeding stallions, a warm water wash before each breeding is ideal and very important to maintain cleanliness.


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## Sandy B (Oct 14, 2011)

Nathan I have to disagree. I have talked to MANY vets who laughed when I have asked them about the use of Ace in stallions and geldings. One vet in particular was a onsite veterinarian of one of the top Thoroughbred breeding farms in the country. They said it is so rare that the benefits of occasional cleaning is worth the risks. Every drug out there carries a risk of some sort of side effect or risk. I will say, unless a person is very experienced at administering Ace, then have your vet do it if needed to clean your "boy". I also usually only clean once a year unless I have one that tends to get really yucky and then I do it twice a year. The most important part of cleaning is to get the bean out. The breeding stallions I have handled never had to be cleaned due to the fact that they were washed prior to collection and breeding season is 6 month deal and then there is collecting for freezing. So they are always washed and easy to do since they are "ready". Its the gelding that are the challenge.

And Nathan, why would you NOT use Excalibur?


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## Nathan Luszcz (Oct 14, 2011)

Ace has a SIGNIFICANT risk of paralysis. And the result is career ending. The TB vets around here (Louisville and Lexington) do NOT recommend it, at least the few dozen I've worked with. The ONLY time I've seen a stallion dosed with Ace was a Shire stallion who was fighting lamanitis. There was some off-label use of Ace that helped with blood flow (maybe due to the smooth muscle relaxing effects? That's why you never give ace to a horse that is bleeding severely. The drop in BP can cause them to faint). But in that case, they were most worried about saving the stud's LIFE first, his breeding ability second.

Excaliber is a soap with perfumes. It can be very irritating to some horses if its not cleaned off sufficiently. I've heard its great to wash your hands with if you get a smegma smell on them, but I wouldn't use it on horses. Plain warm water is MORE than sufficient. If you have trouble getting them to drop or stay down long enough to clean, A) You won't have it long enough to rinse and B) You can use a sterile lube to loosen up the smegma on its own, and it'll (hopefully) fall off on its own. If not, a second wash with warm water will finish the job. If they drop easily, you can use water (stallions, mostly). If they don't drop, and are very reluctant, more than likely they are geldings and you can use Ace. If its a stallion who is rude and doesn't like being handled, that's a priority anyways since all stallions need to be accepting of penile handling. In that case, you can tease them and use Xylazine to sedate, if needed.


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## SampleMM (Oct 14, 2011)

Nathan Luszcz said:


> Ace has a SIGNIFICANT risk of paralysis. And the result is career ending. The TB vets around here (Louisville and Lexington) do NOT recommend it, at least the few dozen I've worked with. The ONLY time I've seen a stallion dosed with Ace was a Shire stallion who was fighting lamanitis. There was some off-label use of Ace that helped with blood flow (maybe due to the smooth muscle relaxing effects? That's why you never give ace to a horse that is bleeding severely. The drop in BP can cause them to faint). But in that case, they were most worried about saving the stud's LIFE first, his breeding ability second.
> 
> Excaliber is a soap with perfumes. It can be very irritating to some horses if its not cleaned off sufficiently. I've heard its great to wash your hands with if you get a smegma smell on them, but I wouldn't use it on horses. Plain warm water is MORE than sufficient. If you have trouble getting them to drop or stay down long enough to clean, A) You won't have it long enough to rinse and B) You can use a sterile lube to loosen up the smegma on its own, and it'll (hopefully) fall off on its own. If not, a second wash with warm water will finish the job. If they drop easily, you can use water (stallions, mostly). If they don't drop, and are very reluctant, more than likely they are geldings and you can use Ace. If its a stallion who is rude and doesn't like being handled, that's a priority anyways since all stallions need to be accepting of penile handling. In that case, you can tease them and use Xylazine to sedate, if needed.


Thanks Nathan for adding your comments. I always find your posts to be very informative and I respect your opinion.


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## shorthorsemom (Oct 14, 2011)

Thanks for the postings.. will be throwing out my excalaber stuff. What I noticed recently is that my guy made more schemga (can't spell sorry) after I cleaned him with that. I rinsed and rinsed and he was very cooperative and two weeks later everything was back... Will try some KY. Just plain warm water wouldn't loosen the stuck on stuff for me. He is chubby and sweats like the dickens in this fall warmer weather now that he has full winter coat on board. I think he heat is contributing to the extra crud.


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## Sandy B (Oct 14, 2011)

Excalibur's main ingredient is Tea Tree oil(not a perfumed soap) and on occasion, some horses can be allergic to Tee Tree Oil and it causes irritation. I see more sheath issues from people who wash too frequently or fail to thoroughly rinse the mild soap they are using. I think they key here we both agree on is to rinse and when you think you are done, rinse again. I have used KY Jelly and it works well too, but personally, I like the smell of Excalibur and it works very well at removing the grime very quickly and easily, meaning I do not have to "scrub" the sheath and penis to get it clean, which can cause irritation as well. No matter what you use to clean your boys goods, unless it is oil based will not cause it to become dirty quicker. Some boys are just more prone to being dirtier more than others sooner and at different times of the years.

So I see you do agree that that if you can not get your gelding to drop and accept cleaning, then Ace is appropriate? I would say most people have geldings and a good majority of geldings are not cooperative in the handling of their penis and not to willing to have it cleaned or the bean removed. Stallions are usually not the issue here. However, we have given Ace to non breeding stallions to clean them (this is usually before they enter the breeding shed (2-3 yr olds). Later, as they are ready to begin their breeding careers, we teach them (by teasing) to drop and accept washing, thus most stallions are never a problem.

Every drug(both topical, oral, injectable) there is, has a risk of side effects. It like the great debate over giving Banamine in a muscle if you are not trained to give it in the vein. Any injection (even annual vaccines) can cause a bad reaction at the injection site. I have even had horses react to fly spray and break out in hives so bad they were one lumpy mess.

What it boils down to, if your boy is not a willing recipient of sheath cleaning, talk to your vet about what you can give him to help you with the process.



Nathan Luszcz said:


> Ace has a SIGNIFICANT risk of paralysis. And the result is career ending. The TB vets around here (Louisville and Lexington) do NOT recommend it, at least the few dozen I've worked with. The ONLY time I've seen a stallion dosed with Ace was a Shire stallion who was fighting lamanitis. There was some off-label use of Ace that helped with blood flow (maybe due to the smooth muscle relaxing effects? That's why you never give ace to a horse that is bleeding severely. The drop in BP can cause them to faint). But in that case, they were most worried about saving the stud's LIFE first, his breeding ability second.
> 
> Excaliber is a soap with perfumes. It can be very irritating to some horses if its not cleaned off sufficiently. I've heard its great to wash your hands with if you get a smegma smell on them, but I wouldn't use it on horses. Plain warm water is MORE than sufficient. If you have trouble getting them to drop or stay down long enough to clean, A) You won't have it long enough to rinse and B) You can use a sterile lube to loosen up the smegma on its own, and it'll (hopefully) fall off on its own. If not, a second wash with warm water will finish the job. If they drop easily, you can use water (stallions, mostly). If they don't drop, and are very reluctant, more than likely they are geldings and you can use Ace. If its a stallion who is rude and doesn't like being handled, that's a priority anyways since all stallions need to be accepting of penile handling. In that case, you can tease them and use Xylazine to sedate, if needed.


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## disneyhorse (Oct 14, 2011)

I am one who will NOT risk using Acepromazine on stallions... and none of my vets ever have, either. There are other sedatives/tranquilizers on the market that don't carry the (small, but devastating) risk of penile paralysis.

I use Ivory dish soap when cleaning sheaths. I used to use Excaliber, but found that with Ivory, there is less smegma production afterwards. I think some male horses are sensitive to the Excaliber and it actually irritates and produces more smegma in the long run. A little bit of Ivory soap and a LOT of water works just fine.

Instead of cleaning sheaths frequently, I tend to just shove a hose up there on hot days or after the horse has been worked, to loosen any large chunks of smegma. I thoroughly clean less often, and mostly just focus on getting the bean out.

Andrea


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## disneyhorse (Oct 14, 2011)

I also want to add that the VAST majority of horses CAN learn to accept sheath cleaning. It takes patience and desensitization if the horse isn't previously used to it. Once they become comfortable with it, most enjoy it.

I would say only about one in 50-100 horses I've worked with have needed sedation to get their sheaths clean. Some of them did take some time, but mostly they come around.

Also, not all horses (especially geldings) will drop to let you clean them. I'd say MOST geldings don't drop for you to clean them. It's not a big deal, just get used to the anatomy and go on in.

Andrea


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## mydaddysjag (Oct 14, 2011)

Dont pitch the excaliber, it works excellent for washing your hands after cleaning sheaths (That smell lingers).

I like KY on the horses, excaliber on my hands to clean up afterwards. I wont specifically buy excaliber for that purpose, but if its around, I defiantly use it


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## Sandy B (Oct 14, 2011)

Is it not amazing how far they can suck that thing up? Its like where did it go? OMG and your one that enjoys it, well sorry, that just made me laugh as I had one gelding I acquired later in life that I swear had a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face when I did it. It just seemed so wrong. LOL!! Yes, KY works good too as does a small amount of Ivory or Dove dish soap. They key is to rinse really really well with warm water.



Sandee said:


> LOL --That makes me think of my boys and I have to chuckle. The stallion (now a gelding) thinks that sheath cleaning is fun. In fact he enjoys it so much that's it's just eeuuuu. However, I have an old gelding (23) who's been a gelding since he was 7 and if you even THINK about cleaning he sucks up so far you can't find him. I guess he feels that he let someone get too close once when he was 7 and he is now gonna "protect" what's left. LOL
> 
> Oh, I too use the KY jelly. With only 2 it doesn't take all that much.


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## Sandy B (Oct 14, 2011)

You are correct in that there are many other sedatives on the market that a vet can administer, just not readily available in most peoples own vet bag.

Yes, Ivory works well as does Dove dish soap in very small amounts. I have never had any horse react negative to Excalibur or dish soap. They key is to rinse, rinse, rinse with lots and lots of warm water. I like you rise our horses off after every work out that produces sweat. The boys get the hose up their sheath as a part of that rinse and works very well as keeping them clean for the most part. If I see any visible grim on the outer sheath I will pick that off and if by chance I ever catch a gelding dropped, i work my way towards their belly and gently pull off any dead hanging skin and even try to check for a bean before they pull it up, but usually I am not quick enough for that, no matter how much scratching I do.

After 35 years in horses, I have only had a few geldings that would allow me to deep clean with no sedation to get them to drop. Unfortunately with the amount of horses and riding I do, I do not have time to train each one to drop and stay that way for cleaning. I am impressed that you have been able to.



disneyhorse said:


> I am one who will NOT risk using Acepromazine on stallions... and none of my vets ever have, either. There are other sedatives/tranquilizers on the market that don't carry the (small, but devastating) risk of penile paralysis.
> 
> I use Ivory dish soap when cleaning sheaths. I used to use Excaliber, but found that with Ivory, there is less smegma production afterwards. I think some male horses are sensitive to the Excaliber and it actually irritates and produces more smegma in the long run. A little bit of Ivory soap and a LOT of water works just fine.
> 
> ...


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## Nathan Luszcz (Oct 14, 2011)

I'm not aware of any perfume and dye-free Dove soaps out there. That's why Ivory is recommended, not because its great at anything, but because its the only one on the market that makes a nice, mild, PLAIN soap. And a little goes a long way.




Me, I use plain warm water scooped and targeted using a small cup. Some people use roll cotton to "scrub" with, but I've found that it leaves more debris (which is irritating) than is worth. I've found a hand scrub does much better. If you are squeamish, or are preparing for breeding, you can use a disposable glove. But cotton is almost universally accepted as routine. CSU taught that its unneeded and a waste of money, and that's what I've decided as well





YES, I LOVE Ace!! I use it routinely on geldings for sheath cleanings. I never use it as a sedative because I carry Xylazine and Ace is very mild. If I need sedatives, its because things are serious enough Ace won't help



Plus, Ace has the BP issues, which makes it less than ideal for wound treatments. Ace DOES still have the risk of penile paralysis with geldings too! Don't forget that. But I'll grab it in a heartbeat for geldings if needed. It makes the process so much calmer and more enjoyable for all parties.

You wanna see JUST how far that thing can suck up?! Imagine doing draft horses lol. I had my entire arm up a gelding's sheath once, to the elbow, and barely reached. LOTS of KY used that night!


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## Sandy B (Oct 15, 2011)

Thank God I have never had to do a draft horse!! I can't imagine. Well I guess I can since I have been up to my shoulder in "other things".







Nathan Luszcz said:


> I'm not aware of any perfume and dye-free Dove soaps out there. That's why Ivory is recommended, not because its great at anything, but because its the only one on the market that makes a nice, mild, PLAIN soap. And a little goes a long way.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Eagle (Oct 15, 2011)

Koriana said:


> The only problem is the looks from the drugstore when you buy buckets of KY if you have a few stallions lol






Or hubby if he looks in your shopping bag





All this dirty talk seems to have given my yearling ideas



I went out this afternoon and he has yucky smelly stuff all over his tummy and bag legs





Thanks you lot


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## Sandee (Oct 15, 2011)

Eagle said:


> Or hubby if he looks in your shopping bag
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Eagle, now that you mention that, have to "tell" on my daughter (over 40). She was always complaining that the stallion had "mud" on his back legs and said, "he's such a pig." Well, when I finally broke down and told her it wasn't "mud", I thought she'd be sick for a minute. "eeuuu, yuck, oh, that's not right!"



She was a hoot!


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