Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> Ok, please don't flame me for asking, but how DO you clean a geldings ya
>  know...sheath and get that 'bean' thingy..
I think there are some highly humorous discussions of this in the
archives, but I'll give it another go here...  :-)

First of all, the "bean" is smegma that accumulates in the urethral
sinus--this is a sort of a pouch that around the end of the urethra in the
head of the penis.  In order to get to it, you have to get the horse to
drop and relax enough that you can get hold of it.  For many horses, this
requires sedation.  If your horse drops as a part of the grooming or
bathing routine, you are miles ahead.  If he doesn't, you need to enlist
your veterinarian in this process initially, until and unless you are able
to teach your horse to drop and relax.  (Others have had far better posts
about how to do this, so I'll let them chime in here, if they will.)

I've always cleaned sheaths and removed beans with just warm water and a
mild soapy disinfectant and LOTS of paper towels (and lots of rinsing
afterward to make sure you got all the soapy disinfectant rinsed out). 
Depending on the horse, if there is a lot of inflamation and perhaps some
infection going on, I'll apply something like Nolvesan ointment after I'm
done, but I wouldn't recommend that for cleaning the normal horse, as the
ointment also collects dirt.  (With really irritated or infected ones, I
figure I'm going to be cleaning repeatedly anyway, so the benefit of the
ointment outweighs the drawback.)  There is at least one commercial
product (Excaliber) available for cleaning sheaths as well.

Basically, you get the bean out of the urethral sinus, you wash the smegma
off the penis, and then you go up into the sheath itself and clean away
any smegma you can get from the inside wall.  Some people are kind of
squeamish about this--if you are, get someone to help you.  (As I said, it
may need to be your vet, particularly if your horse requires sedation to
get this done.)  Many folks prefer to wear disposable gloves of some sort,
as the smegma can be pretty smelly and the smell can linger on your hands.

Hope this helps!

Heidi





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