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    Re: [RC] Ever notice? - Heidi Smith


    >Did anyone in this list ever notice that the email is ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx? And not ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxx. So, why don't we quit talking about sheath cleaning and get on with endurance. There are plenty of things we can say. I for one, can't say much, considering that I'm a younger person, and I'm a newbie, but still, I signed up for ridecamp to learn about endurance, and not about all the other stuff that has been said around here.  
     
    Well, Laura, I'll be among the first to say that I've used my delete key liberally during this thread, and you are right that discussion of people's anthropomorphism, Victorian guilt trips, etc. as they relate to sheath cleaning is not relevant to endurance.  That said, what IS relevant to endurance is keeping one's horse healthy enough to compete happily and comfortably.  I haven't commented on this thread yet, but consider that smegma and/or a "bean" in the urethral sinus can make it uncomfortable for male horses to urinate (and folks, stallions can have this problem too, although they are a) less prone to it than geldings, and b) less common than geldings on the endurance circuit), resulting in oddities of gait due to either holding urine too long to avoid the discomfort of urination or to just simply moving oddly because his sheath and penis hurt.  Such a thing in turn can result in a horse having back or leg pain (certainly relevant to endurance), or to simply being irritated and uncomfortable, causing the poor critter's heart rate to stay up (again, also relevant to endurance).  We discuss other things on this list that cause pain, from poor saddle fit to poor riding habits to allergies to poor shoeing to you-name-it--and those are ALL relevant to endurance riding.  So please explain to me why pain in the sheath or the urethral sinus would not be relevant to endurance?  Discussion of sheath cleaning as it pertains to products used (Excalibur, etc.), helpful hints (hadn't heard the one about the old socks--that was a good one--thanks, whoever offered that suggestion), methodology (how do you get the horse to learn to accept the procedure), knowledge of the whys and wherefores (how do you know if your horse needs this or not), comparison of do-it-yourself vs when-do-you-need-to-involve-the-vet, etc. are INDEED relevant, and even though I'm pretty experienced at such things, I'm glad to see such discussions on an endurance list.  Saves me as a ride vet having to say the same things over and over to individuals, if a whole bunch of folks learn it here first.  (And as I said, even with years of experience, I learned something new--the old socks thing--that I can pass on to others.)  What is offensive is not the sheath cleaning--it is the overreaction of people who try to find crude humor in it, and then the overreaction to the crude humor, and the vicious cycle goes on and on.  There isn't a thing wrong with humor per se, but for some reason some folks get carried away when subjects that are even remotely related to reproductive anatomy come up.  So, THANK YOU to all who were able to actually discuss SHEATH CLEANING in the context of common sense and how it is relevant to keeping our male equine companions happy, healthy, and comfortable, and thus better able to compete.  For the rest of you, my delete key still works just fine, but I hope you eventually come around to the point of being able to realize that this is just one more humdrum chore in the ongoing task of horse care, right up there with shoveling manure, cleaning feet, doing teeth, giving vaccinations, deworming, and the whole host of other things we routinely do to keep our equine buddies at their best.
     
    Heidi

    Replies
    [RC] Ever notice?, Sweetie10989