Cleaning Sheaths.

[Nathan Luszcz]

The bean is a little ball of smegma that collects in the glands penis. Just dorsal to the urethra there are two pouches. The first, the urethral fossa, is quite open and relatively easy to clean. The second is a blind pouch behind the first. This blind pouch is where the bean forms, from bacteria and secretions from the various glands in the skin of the penis. Its white, and full of bacteria and shed cells. Usually its soft and pasty, but eventually it'll harden into a rock-hard ball of junk which can put a lot of pressure on the urethra, to the point of making it difficult and painful to urinate. Stallions doing natural service keep it relatively clean just through the physical process of breeding (but think of where that bacteria goes... right into the mare. If she's healthy, fine, but if she's not..... it can cause some nasty infections, or at the very least make that paticular breeding infertile. You may never notice, because if he breeds her again he would have cleaned himself out, and she would be over the micro-infection she had). Geldings can build up nasty beans, as can non-breeding stallions. Heck, even breeding stallions can have a painful bean, some form them quicker than others. Here are a few pictures of the fossa, with a little hint of the grey bean material hiding in the back (these are from an arab stallion about to be washed for collection).

Glands 1

Glands 2

This picture is of the glands without my finger holding the tissue away... the fossa is that area around the urethra that is as you can see pretty open and easy to clean. You have to go digging a little bit for the rest of the bean, pictured above in the previous two pictures. (different arab stallion... we like our arabs here

They are wonderful teaching horses...)

Glands 3

 

[~Karen~]

Oh No! I saw the 1st photot, but the 2nd 2 said page not found and then the 1st one came back again, page not found.

Thank you for this useful information! I appreciate it very much.

~Karen

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Look again

I was updating and editing the pictures as you were looking. I shrunk them so they are actually on one page and cropped out all the extra crud that wasn't part of the main focus.

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

definitely clean your boys! as for how often, that does vary horse to horse, you just need to check periodically - we read in a book where once a year was fine, but have had two horses that required it much more often... a bean in the wrong place can block their "pipe" which is NOT good. not every horse makes the same amount of smegma...

we also clean our mares, some aren't bad but again there are a couple that get quite a build-up between their nipples, it gets crusty and itchy and they can't really scratch it...

for those that don't clean, one can only hope their horses are the lucky ones that don't make much smegma...

 

[_minihorses4ever_]

I have a question.. I have only cleaned Willie once, and when I did, I could not get him to drop. So, I went in, and cleaned the best I could (I got so much gunk out of there!). My question is, how far can I go "up there"? I only got to clean the "home" part, and not the actual part itself. He did drop once while I turned away, and I got to clean his weenie a little bit, but not very much.. Another question, is there any "tricks" to help to get him to drop? Thanks..

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

I have a question.. I have only cleaned Willie once, and when I did, I could not get him to drop. So, I went in, and cleaned the best I could (I got so much gunk out of there!). My question is, how far can I go "up there"? I only got to clean the "home" part, and not the actual part itself. He did drop once while I turned away, and I got to clean his weenie a little bit, but not very much.. Another question, is there any "tricks" to help to get him to drop? Thanks..

just be slow and gentle and go on up. if they don't drop you can still get a LOT of stuff out of there... we had one gelding, our old Appy, i swear he had TWO "chambers", i could go in up to my wrist and then there was another opening and i could get my hand in there too, almost up to my elbow. :new_shocked: i just always went slow and gentle and easy, but this was a good guy, he didn't even mind me putting the hose right in there... (water coming slowly of course!)

so don't be afraid, just don't be rough.

 

[Erica]

http://www.equusite.com/articles/health/he...hCleaning.shtml

 

[NyborFarm]

I clean my gelding every time I give him a bath before a horse show. I find this is the easiest time because I have the warm water out already from giving him a bath. Also, I use a little 2inch round sponge. He dislikes the use of a wash cloth.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

http://www.equusite.com/articles/health/he...hCleaning.shtml

Ug, I HATE that article. Number 7 says: "So: the equine urethra is fairly large diameter, and indeed will permit you to very gently insinuate one of your slimmer fingers inside the urethral opening."

NEVER, EVER, stick your finger up a male's urethra, ever. Yes, its large enough (in a big horse), but don't. Period. Picture the glands like an upsidedown teacup with a straw in it. The cup is the glands, and the straw the urethra. The bean is in the cup AROUND the urethra, NOT in the urethra itself.

In a big horse you can stick your entire arm into their sheath. There is no place you can't go, except for their urethra. The limiting factor is your arm's and the sheath's size. In a mini, I'd be very careful about questing inside unless you are a very small person

And again I'd highly suggest not using soap

Just plain ol'water. And if you use a sponge, I'd suggest disposing of it after cleaning, don't save it for next time

 

[^T-bird89^]

I do my two horses myself. I wouldn't ever pay a vet to do it unless the horse was uncontrollable...I started on my little man when i got him and he was a yearling- I would say twice a year would be good. I know breeding stallions don't get it too bad during season because of the activity, but my gelding gets some build up. I also do the mares for my mom (in between the teats gets crusty sometimes). I know some people are repulsed at the idea- my nieghbor offered to pay me to do her horse- but I don't think about it like that. What has to be done, has to be done- and i will do anything to keep my horses healthy and happy.

I don't know if you know or not, but we've found that our mini donkeys never have to be cleaned- they are VERY clean...I think its wierd. Does anyone know why?

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

I have no idea, but the one jack I knew was also perfectly clean, all the time. Maybe their smegma is slightly different, they do smell different, maybe that's because of the oils in their excretions.

 

[LGahr]

I'm wondering how many of you clean your stallions/geldings sheaths on your own, or if you pay the vet to do this? I'm also wondering at what age you would normally start this for your males?

I am usually hesitant to add my two cents worth but I have had a lot of horses over the years and I always preferred geldings. It has been my experience that this sheath cleaning thing is really no big deal. When bathing my geldings I always have a buck of warm water and some soap for those areas that need more than just a little hosing off. I have always just gone about my bathing routine and soaped and scrubbed as usual. If the sheath area seems a little extra grubby I use some vaseline or baby oil on a warm wet cloth after the initial washing then a thorough rinsing with my hose. Just like any other area of the horse. I got my first horse way back in sixties....right after electricity.....and I have NEVER had a problem of any type.

No beans, no swelling, no issues. Just basic cleansing has proven to be adequate for me. My halter horses, of course, got more baths than my pleasure horses but still no issues if you just give them a good bath a few times a year.

I am not saying everyone will have the same good luck with sheath care as I have had but consistent care and a little soap and water (be sure it is warm water!) will go along way.

Relax and enjoy your equine friends--I think sometimes we worry so much about doing everything right we forget we are in this for the pleasure of it.

 

[Beccy]

for those that don't clean, one can only hope their horses are the lucky ones that don't make much smegma...

Sorry but I find this comment a bit arrogant. We all choose to do things differently, and just because you do something one way and I do it another, does not mean either is wrong if the result is the same, a healthy happy horse.

To me, flushing the sheath with water after heavy exercise or when bathing is one thing, but physically shoving a hand up and rooting around where no hand was meant to go is another. It is not that we do not clean because we can't be bothered, it is because we do not feel it is necessary to do it routinely unless there is a problem. I too have heard more than one vet say it is not necessary under most circumstances.

If we had a big stud farm, then I would be much more concerned, but we do not stand our stallions to outside mares, and we have never had a problem with infection in stallions or mares. In the large horse world I have known owners who swore it had to be done, and owners who swore it didn't, and the only major problem I can recall, was in a gelding that was "cleaned" regularly.

I truly believe that sometimes in caring for our animals we go too far in thinking we have to intervene where there isn't a problem. Makes me wonder how on earth all the wild horse herds have stayed healthy without someone there to "weenie clean"!

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Sorry but I find this comment a bit arrogant.

I disagree... I've known LOTS and LOTS of people who never ever clean their boys, and some of them were noticably lame and painful because of it, and the owners just shrugged and said what you did, they aren't cleaned in the wild. Well, wild horses are all stallions, and breed actively. When they breed their first few mares that bacteria and smegma is put into the mare, and she either doesn't get pregnant or gets an infection. If she dies (which is very rare) or doesn't get pregnant, so what? What does nature care? Luckily modern management techniques make it so that's not even a concern. People lived just fine in the 1200s when they didn't have the same healthcare system we do now. But was it an ideal life?

 

[Beccy]

Sorry but I find this comment a bit arrogant.

I disagree... I've known LOTS and LOTS of people who never ever clean their boys, and some of them were noticably lame and painful because of it, and the owners just shrugged and said what you did, they aren't cleaned in the wild. Well, wild horses are all stallions, and breed actively. When they breed their first few mares that bacteria and smegma is put into the mare, and she either doesn't get pregnant or gets an infection. If she dies (which is very rare) or doesn't get pregnant, so what? What does nature care? Luckily modern management techniques make it so that's not even a concern. People lived just fine in the 1200s when they didn't have the same healthcare system we do now. But was it an ideal life?

Did you read everything I wrote, or just the first line? I said UNLESS THERE IS A PROBLEM. A horse that is obviously uncomfortable or experiencing difficulties is a totally different story, but we are talking routine, no problem evident, intervention. Honestly we create problems where there aren't any!

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Exactly. I'm talking routine healthcare. I most certainly read your whole comment. Of the last two barns I worked at, with a total of well over 200 horses, of the 100ish geldings I bet you less than half of their owners routinely washed them, and by routinely I mean at least once a year. The rest of the boys suffered through, and when they hung out to urinate the smegma just pealed off. Not all were painful, very few were so bad they were lame. But because we CAN make their life better and more pleasent, why not give them a nice wash once in a while?

 

[Beccy]

Some horses (GELDINGS ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!) need some sedation to help them drop down, and acepromazine can be very helpful for that. NEVER, EVER give a stallion acepromazine, EVER. I do my own sedation, so if I need a little something its not a big deal for me to take care of that, but in some situations a vet would be needed for that. One of the best times to clean them is after getting their teeth done

If you are like me and have the vet out to do dentristry, they are sedated then and once the vet leaves you can pounce and get them all shiny.

We have yet to have a horse large or small sedated by the vet for regular floating of teeth, and in my opinion, sedating a horse just so you can clean a sheath is ridiculous. I don't put my horses through anything more than is necessary.

But because we CAN make their life better and more pleasent, why not give them a nice wash once in a while?

wash as in rinse after exercise or during bathing, fine, but invading somewhere unnecessarily, nope.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

If its bad enough that you have to clean them, you do what you have to do. I've never sedated my horses for anything other than dentristry (which I require... I won't allow my horse's teeth to be filed without sedation and banamine). My boys drop quite willingly for a mare or after a hard workout, and I take advantage of that to keep them clean and healthy. If I have to sedate, I do so, because their health is more important to me than not using drugs when nessesary. And as I've mentioned, I consider clean, or reasonably so, sheaths a nessesary part of responcible healthcare.

 

[Beccy]

If its bad enough that you have to clean them, you do what you have to do. I've never sedated my horses for anything other than dentristry (which I require... I won't allow my horse's teeth to be filed without sedation and banamine). My boys drop quite willingly for a mare or after a hard workout, and I take advantage of that to keep them clean and healthy. If I have to sedate, I do so, because their health is more important to me than not using drugs when nessesary. And as I've mentioned, I consider clean, or reasonably so, sheaths a nessesary part of responcible healthcare.

Well forgive me if I misunderstood what you were saying, but the way I read it, it seemed to say that you would use sedation if necessary to clean a sheath. As I have already said, if there is a problem, then I 100% agree with you, cleaning and sedation may be necessary, but my understanding of this topic, is routine cleaning of the sheath, and again, unless there is a problem, I do not feel it is necessary.

My vet has never sedated or given pain medication to any of our horses for routine floating, and I would not wish him to do so unless the horse was really upset, or there was more to do than just routine filing.

 

[Ashley]

I have a gelding that is comeing 10 and I have only had him done once. I had him done because he does not drop to pee, he cant and hasnt been able to since he was fixed. He was not at all dirty when it was done. However I do try to keep him as clean as possible down there since he has issues. The vet also said it wasnt needed when he was done.

However he does have to be sedated to have it done as he does not tolorate it well at all.