# Any tricks to sheath cleaning?



## dianneS (Sep 24, 2010)

I think my mini horse needs his sheath cleaned.  He's been rubbing his tail a lot and I've eliminated all other causes of tail rubbing and the only thing it could be is he needs his sheath cleaned.

His "thing" is always dangling too, but not when I'm prepared to clean it!  Every time I see it hanging, I go for the bucket and rag and by the time I get back, it's disappeared again!

I've tried getting him to relax, I've whispered sweet nothings in his ear, tickled his belly, brushed him... it doesn't make an appearance.  Only when I'm NOT ready is it hangin' out there.

He's the first gelding I've ever had.  Only had mares before him.  His "thing" looks dry and scaly, but not stinky or anything like that.  He lets it hang a lot and rubs his butt, so I'm guessing it needs cleaned.  A friend told me to call the vet and have them sedate him and clean it for me, but I think that seems a bit extreme.  I don't think he has any type of infection or anything.  Or could he?  How can I tell?  Any advice?


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## michickenwrangler (Sep 24, 2010)

Have you seen him urinate?

For DH's old appy, we used to rub his "thigh" to get him to let down.

Make sure you use slightly warm water and that you reach up in there to get out the beans. Also, pull the foreskin back gently to get anything that has built up in there.
Just go about it slowly. If he pulls back up, just keep rubbing until he drops again. Patience is the key.


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## goodhors (Sep 24, 2010)

You make yourself the appointment, then clean the pony when that time comes.  Mine never drop down, so using a warm hose from the house, we clean them anyway.  Warm water makes a BIG difference in them wanting to fight or tolerating the cleaning pretty well.

I use Excaliber Sheath Cleaner.  I have found it to do a superior job in loosening sticky dirt, the "yucky stuff" out of the sheath itself.  Pony is small, so your whole hand may not fit easily in there.  Often just working around the main opening he retracts into, using warm water, fingers, sheath soap, you can do a pretty good job.  Do pay special attention to cleaning the end of penis, that is where the beans hide, often several, blocking the Ureathra and urination.  You have to rinse the cleaner out well, this is where hose does a better job than bucket and rag or sponges.  I allow gentle water flow, to enter the opening, flushing out dirt and any left soap.  Horse can get very sore if soap is left in.

I do not use any sticky things, baby oil, vasaline, for sheath cleaning.  Can attract and hold dirt if not cleaned out well.  Hard to wash out  or remove from the sheath with the oily textures, changes the PH inside the sheath.  Liquid dish soaps have  been used for years, but while they cut the greasy stuff for removal, they can be very drying to the skin.  Again might be hard to remove, upset the PH inside the sheath.  People use a lot of weird stuff to clean horse privates, which they would NOT use on themselves!!

I have used the Sheath Cleaner since they came out with it, does remove some nasty smells from my hands just as a cleaner.  Does a good job on my horse's sheaths with no horse reaction.  I am careful to do an extra good rinse after we finish cleaning.  I wear the latex gloves for cleaning, change them for each horse so we don't "share" germs.  Keeps the smegma from getting under fingernails, prevents me scratching a horse by accident.  The smell of a dirty sheath will STAY with you for DAYS!  Soap is not really helpful in washing it off.  Just best to wear the latex gloves and prevent that stink on you!  A box of gloves can be cheap, maybe some from the dollar store.  

Something else to look at, is bone of pony's tail as the itch cause.  With thick and heavy tails, often the bone itself is very dry, ITCHY and almost water proof.  You can wash the tail, use shampoo to break thru the greasy hairs, soak and rub the bone itself, get loose skin off, flakes worked up.  If pony is not being used for show, I will work mineral oil into the bone, all sides, end of bone area.  Of course the hair gets really greasy too, but moisturizing the skin seems to remove a lot of the itch in tails.  I just leave the mineral oil on the tail, reapply when bone looks dry again.  Seems to wash out easily with shampoo for shows.  They all quit rubbing around here!   All the horses LOVE having their tail bone oiled, taking away the itchy feel.  Surprising how many have really dry tailbones, under the shiny hair!! 

I do not use baby-oil because we had a horse react badly to the perfume or acetate in the mix, got running sores, half the hair of tail fell out!  I was quite shocked how fast things went bad for him.  So I made the switch to mineral oil, base of baby oil without the extra chemicals.  No problems since, even on Mr. Senstive.  His tail did grow back but took 2 years for length to return.


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## Baymule (Sep 24, 2010)

KY jelly squirted in the sheath works real well on loosening up the crud. Make sure you get the PLAIN KY, not the "warming" kind. LOL It helps if you feed him so he has a full belly and wants to relax and let his feed digest. My gelding often drops his ding dong after he eats. Naturally he sucks it up to his eyeballs when I go fishing around for it. And definately wear the gloves and use warm water.


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## w c (Sep 25, 2010)

Most horses don't drop to be cleaned, unless they are given a tranquilizer.  Usually you have to go up in there and get it, but that's not difficult.  Just best not to have Martha Stewart over that day.


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## rodriguezpoultry (Sep 25, 2010)

Mine does it when he's done with his feed. I usually give him a good brushing, he will drop at that point.

I work my way over there and start, well, tinkering around that area. Once he's comfortable with that, he usually just lets me start cleaning.

I use a washcloth with warm water. Seems to work fairly well and the washcloth is just abrasive enough to get most of the grodiness off of there.


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## ducks4you (Sep 27, 2010)

I have cleaned the sheaths of all of the geldings I have owned.  It's not that hard.  You just can't try to do a thorough cleaning in one session--EVER.  I don't even wait for mine to drop down, because I don't like the clean horse to have yucky "beans."  Here's how I've always done it:  As you are grooming around the sheath, just pick out a little, and then leave it alone.  Even if your gelding gets irritated you won't be there long.  It's just another situation where you are desensitizing.
_ I have owned 27 geldings over the years and I got them ALL to let me do it._
DH thinks it looks like a...um...fixation...when I do it.


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## patandchickens (Sep 27, 2010)

Basically you either have to have a horse willing to hang out for you (a minority); or have the vet sedate the horse to make him dangle; or roll up your sleeves and go in there after it.

The latter is the least-effective in getting things thoroughly clean, but certainly the EASIEST for most horses and horse owners.

If the anatomy up there (which you will encounter only by braille, so to speak) confuses you, here is a link to a copy of a post I wrote a long long time ago on an online forum (which is why it sounds kind of odd, it was not originally written as a stand-alone article) on the subject. It has propagated all over the internet, here is a copy preceded by some good definitions of terms (source located randomly via google, it's in a buncha other places too. Warning, if I were to write it today or not as a post among friends, it would probably not be quite so cutesily/foolishly written -- but the anatomical references are still correct 

http://www.equusite.com/articles/health/healthSheathCleaning.shtml

I highly, highly recommend a bottle of Excalibur sheath cleaning solution, not just for the cleaning but for getting the smegma smell off your hands afterwards. It is *lingering* and *pungent* and smells like nothing else. Not in a good way either 

BTW if you have not wormed within the past 3 wks or so, tail-rubbing can also be from pinworms. They come back faster than other worms, after a worming. Dunno whether you've eliminated that possibility.

If sheath cleaning and worming don't do it, the traditional remedy of soaking the dock of the tail with Listerine (the original green minty stuff) honestly does work, to a reasonable degree anyhow.

Good luck, "have fun" (not ),

Pat


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## papeine (Sep 29, 2011)

I have the vet do it.... my gelding was just to tough to get it done...


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## mydakota (Sep 29, 2011)

Here ya go!  

THE CLEANING PROCESS...
WRITTEN BY: Patricia Harris [1998]

1.) Check to make sure there are no prospective boyfriends, elderly neighbors, or Brownie troops with a line of sight to the proceedings. Though of course they're probably going to show up unexpectedly ANYWAY once you're in the middle of things. Prepare a good explanation.

2.) Trim your fingernails short. Assemble horse, hose, and your sense of humor (plus, ideally, Excalibur cleanser and perhaps thin rubber gloves).

3.) Use hose (or damp sponge) to get the sheath and its inhabitant wet. Uh, that is, do this in a *civilized* fashion with due warning to the horse; he is apt to take offense if an icy-cold hose blasts unexpectedly into his personal regions ;-)

4.) Now introduce your horse to Mr Hand . What I find safest is to stand facing the horse's head, with my shoulder and hip snugly against the horse's thigh and hip so that if he makes any suspicious move such as raising his leg, I can feel it right away and am in any case pressed so close that all he can do is shove, not really kick. The horse should be held by an assistant or by your free hand, NOT tied fast to a post or to crossties. He may shift around a good bit if he's not happy with Mr Hand's antics, but don't be put off by that; as long as you are patient and gradual, and stick close to his side, he'll get over it. Remember that it would be most unladylike of you to simply make a direct grab for your horse's Part. Give the horse a clue about what's on the program. Rest your hand against his belly, and then slide it back til you are entering The Home of the Actual Private Part. When you reach this first region of your destination, lube him up good with Excalibur or whatever you're using. If the outer part of his sheath is really grungy you will feel little clods and nubblies of smegma peeling off as you grope around in there. Patiently and gently expedite their removal.

5.) Thus far, you have probably only been in the outer part of the sheath. The Part Itself, you'll have noticed, is strangely absent. That's because it has retired shyly to its inner chambers. Roll up them thar sleeves and follow in after it ;-)

6.) As you and Mr Hand wend your way deeper into the sheath, you will encounter what feels like a small portal that opens up into a chamber beyond. Being attentive to your horse's reaction, invite yourself in . You are now in the inner sanctum of The Actual Private Part. It's hiding in there towards the back, trying to pretend it isn't there. Say hi and wave to it . No, really, work your finger back and forth around the sides of it. If the horse won't drop, this is your only shot at removing whatever dried smegma is clinging to the surface of the Part itself. So, gently explore around it, pulling out whatever crusty topsoil you find there. Use more water and more Excalibur if necessary to loosen attached gunk.

7.) When Mr Hand and the Actual Private Part have gotten to know each other pretty well, and the Part feels squeaky clean all around, there remains only one task: checking for, and removing, the bean. The bean is a pale, kidney-shaped accumulation of smegma in a small pouch just inside the urethra. Not all horses accumulate a bean, but In My Experience the majority do, even if they have no visible external smegma. 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. Do so, and explore upwards for what will feel like a lump or "pea" buried no more than, I dunno, perhaps 3/4" in from the opening. If you do encounter a bean, gently and sympathetically persuade it out with your finger. This may require a little patience from BOTH Mr Hand AND the horse, but the horse will be happier and healthier once it's accomplished. In the rare event that the bean is too enormous for your finger to coax out, you might try what I did (in desperation) last month on the orange horse: Wrap thumb and index finger around the end of the Part and squeeze firmly to extrude the bean. Much to my surprise it worked and orange horse did NOT kill me for doing it and he does not seem to have suffered any permanant damage as a result ;-> I have never in my life seen another bean that enormous, though.

8.) Now all that's left to do is make a graceful exit and rinse the area very thoroughly in apology for the liberties you've taken . A hose will be MUCH easier to use here than just a sponge and bucket, In My Experience. Make sure to direct the water into the Part's inner retreat too, not merely the outer part of the sheath. This may require you to enfold the end of the hose in your hand and guide it up there personally.

9.) Ta-da, you are done! Say, "Good horsie" and feed him lots of carrots. Watch him make funny faces at the way your hands smell. Hmm. Well, perhaps there is ONE more step...

10.) The only thing I know of that is at all effective in removing the lovely fragrance of smegma from your hands (fingernails arms elbows and wherever else it's gotten) is Excalibur. Even then, if you didn't use gloves you may find you've got an unusual personal perfume for a while. So, word to the wise, do NOT clean your horse's sheath just before an important job interview or first date ;-) and of course, there is that one FINAL step...

11.) Figure out how to explain all this to your mother (or the kid from next door, or the meter reader, or whoever else you've just realized has been standing in the barn doorway speechlessly watching the entire process.)


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## redtailgal (Sep 29, 2011)

One thing that I have done in the past is to let the Excaliber soak for a couple minutes before rinsing.

Feed your boy, love him rub his belly and the crack of his butt.  One of my friends will accuse me of "seducing them".

If after all the sweet talk, he still doesnt run his root out, go diggin.

Get the excaliber in there work it in, and let it sit for a about 5 minutes, then complete your washing.  The soaking thing really helps loosen up the crud and helps you get more without them getting sore.

I agree.....warm water definately!


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## yankee'n'moxie (Oct 10, 2011)

Thank you guys sooo much for posting this! I needed help figuring out how to do this! Every time that I try he gets really mad at me, but i suppose that I will try some of you guys techniques and see if it works! I sure hope so, he is getting really dirty! 

One question: How often should I do this, once I get him to let me? :/


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## goodhors (Oct 10, 2011)

Depends on the horse.  Some seem to stay cleaner than others.  Often as a horse ages, he 
may need cleaning more often.  Older animals often quit extending, so the smegma builds
up faster, needs cleaning.  Easy to get an infection going in that enviornment, hard to cure.
Older horses also get sheaths that appear larger, probably because they have less muscle tone.

One of the things I use for a reason to clean is if he does the "gelding squeaks" when you 
ride or watch him moving.  On 99% of male horses, the squeaky noise means he is dirty.  

If you have the 1% who squeaks from tension, well at least you KNOW that his squeaks are 
not because he is dirty!  I had one like that.  He would squeak when he was very nervous or 
worried, sometimes before he got warmed up preparing for a work session.

Young horses can often be dirty, so check them regularly too.

I consider my horses to be average, so I do twice a year cleanings.  If they get squeaky, 
we will do a cleaning as needed.  The younger horses have had beans more often than the older
gelding, so do a complete check on everyone.  Those young guys often each had several 
small beans, so don't think you are done if you find just one bean.


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## LauraM (Oct 15, 2011)

I have my vet do it when my horse gets his yearly shots.  Vet tranquilizes horsey and cleans horsey's sheath.  I hold horsey's lead rope.


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