One of our geldings we aquired two years ago had
not had his sheath cleaned in many years (nor had his teeth done, poor guy).
When we got him I took him to the vet to have his teeth done and sheath cleaned.
I asked my husband if he wanted to come see the teeth thing since I though he
would find it fascinating. I did not tell him about the sheath cleaning.
Needless to say, I think he almost dropped over and turned white when the vet
stuck his arm up and retrieved many things, including the BIGGEST bean I have
ever seen! I just died laughing!!......the vet was a comical guy who left the
large bean on the ground for quite awhile just to see the look on my man's face
staring at it in horror.
There is a pocket around the urethra, and that is where the
ball forms. It is not in the urethra itself. You can gently clean
out that pocket and get the ball. If you don't do so, it can get larger
and larger and compress the urethra, making urination difficult. I've
never seen a gelding that has not formed a bean myself.
My horse just drops, I have never had to go searching,
LOL!! ;o)
Well, kinda like getting a worm out of a hole
in the ground. Grab hold and give a steady pull until he
drops. There are cleaners on the market (mostly containing tea
tree oil) formulated to clean the smegma (oily secreations) from the
sheath. My guy has never had a 'bean' but from what I
understand, sometimes a ball of smegma can get lodged in the urethral
opening. Not sure how to get this out as I wouldn't think going
in after it would be the best course (too much potential to push it
deeper into the urethra).
Suggestion: tie a front leg up before doing this for the
first time to prevent a cow-kick if your boy is a bit sensitive about
having his sheath messed with.
