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Post by aintjack on Apr 7, 2007 6:45:56 GMT -5
as i previously posted, i am no expert, this is my personal opinion. i do however find that more women think the sheath to be gross looking when "au natural". certainly a "dirty" sheath is not good but "au natural" has its benefits also. as i said, of course it needs to be checked if your horse is showing sighns of a problem and also horses more prone to melanoma but on the average they don't need it. sorry, not wanting to cause problem. i never post but i just wanted to on this. guess i shoudn't have.
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bndranch
Global Moderator
Tractor Tire Kicker
Sleep tight my sweet Larkin.....02/08/07-02/11/07
Posts: 1,488
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Post by bndranch on Apr 7, 2007 10:43:28 GMT -5
AntiJack I wouldn't feel that way about posting........Opinons are what make the world go round!!! If someone feels that something is wrong with their horse they should contact a vet. I very RARELY clean my geldings either and I have one that is 24......If its so imparative why is he doing so well? ![???](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/huh.png) Just one of those personal preferences that some will agree on and some will dissagree. No reason to jump down anyone's throats and I don't think thats what happened!! Take it all in stride LOL! I love to read the different ways and opinions on here. They may not be something I agree with but its good to learn there are different ways! Take care and keep posting AntiJack!!
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Post by aintjack on Apr 7, 2007 18:45:23 GMT -5
thanks bnd. i'm still here lurking. i really appreciate your reply. i to luv to read how others do stuff. this is a very educational site. i do not breed horses nor have i ever raised a foal but i really enjoy learning stuff i had no idea about. i'm so glad i've never tried to foal a mare out knowing how little i know about it. i'll leave that to ya'll and sit back and enjoy the boogers.
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Post by risingrainbow on Apr 8, 2007 15:32:33 GMT -5
While we're on the subject guess I might as well add my 2 cents worth.
I think that the question of to clean or not to clean can be directly affected by the enviroment of the horse. My horses are all stalled so I don't know anything about the status of outside horses, but I find the tidy horses don't need cleaning like the untidy ones. I also found that for the brief period of time that we used pellets for bedding, I had more sheath related problems than on white shavings. Cedar shavings also cause problems here.
Some horses are more sensitive to cleaning than others. Usually the light skin is more sensitive than dark skin. Red skin in an area that should be light skin indicates irritation and should be cleaned but gently.
To minimize soreness and swelling, use a good sheath cleaner and let it set and soften up the smegma. If the smegma is stuck forcing it to come loose will make the horse sore. It takes longer to keep applying the cleaner and allowing it to sit but in the long run the horse will be more comfortable.
The bean is a pale, kidney-shaped accumulation of smegma in a small pouch just inside the urethra. So looking at the end of the horse's male thingy you will see the opening (urethra) all around it is a small pouch, the bean will be in there. Pushing gently with the end of your thumb into that pouch will usually push it up and out.
A squeaky clean male thingy at all times is not good for the horse. He needs the natural lubricants but dirt, sand and other debris are as big a problem as a lack of natural lubricants. What that means is you have to judge each horse on it's individual circumstances. All male horses should probably be checked once or twice a year to see what their individual status might be.
I think I should probably post something about this on my blog. Looks like people have a lot of questions.
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Linda
Stable Manager
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Post by Linda on Apr 8, 2007 23:17:01 GMT -5
Great reply risingrainbow, and so informative. Thank you so much, as you have answered so many of my questions on this subject.
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Post by risingrainbow on Apr 9, 2007 0:51:35 GMT -5
Linda, I'm glad it was useful for you. After I wrote it, I thought, Geez, I should post this on my blog, so I added a couple of more things and some links with additional information and had my blog post done for the day.
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Linda
Stable Manager
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Post by Linda on Apr 25, 2007 21:38:06 GMT -5
Linda, I'm glad it was useful for you. After I wrote it, I thought, Geez, I should post this on my blog, so I added a couple of more things and some links with additional information and had my blog post done for the day. After reading the posts I finally did my, almost, 2 year old. It was quiet easy to do. He didn't like it but it only took a clean wash rag and some warm water and after about 3 times of holding the wash rag on his thingy it was all clean. No scrubing, just soaking it. Now it looks like new.![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Dragonwiz/rofl.gif)
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Post by wisteriafarms on Apr 26, 2007 12:13:49 GMT -5
Okay Linda, that last sentence cracked me up lol ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Dragonwiz/rofl.gif)
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Post by emma on Apr 27, 2007 6:11:05 GMT -5
Here is one telling you everything in great detail. WARNING! The following link leads to a detailed description that follows the process of cleaning a male horse's private part as to where and how to. If you think such information could be troublesome for you or anybody in your care, please do not click it. www.equusite.com/articles/health/healthSheathCleaning.shtml
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Post by wisteriafarms on Apr 27, 2007 7:28:17 GMT -5
That's a great article. I had to laugh at step one of the cleaning process. The area where I tie my boy to bathe him is in front of a barn, but also fairly close to the end of the driveway. It is off of a very lightly travelled, dirt road. Once, during bath time and while cleaning (of course) Amistad's sheath, I heard a car drive by and glanced up to see since cars don't go by often. Very soon afterwards, I hear a car again so I glance up again...and it's the SAME car, going by in the opposite direction! They slowed waaaaaaay down and just gawked. I put my hands on my hips and gave them a nasty look lol, and they took the hint and moved on. But I had to chuckle to myself. So yeah, that step made me laugh ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Dragonwiz/rofl.gif) But I do like the way the author keeps it lighthearted.
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Post by emma on Apr 27, 2007 11:08:39 GMT -5
I thought so too. While not missing any points, it is written with a wink and a smile. Emma
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Post by darbyponygirl on May 5, 2007 18:28:36 GMT -5
I clean my ponies once a year and i have one who sees the bucket and gloves adn excalibur and drops right down and others that act like they are going to kick your head off lol
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Post by risingrainbow on May 7, 2007 11:21:21 GMT -5
That's a great article. I had to laugh at step one of the cleaning process. The area where I tie my boy to bathe him is in front of a barn, but also fairly close to the end of the driveway. It is off of a very lightly travelled, dirt road. Once, during bath time and while cleaning (of course) Amistad's sheath, I heard a car drive by and glanced up to see since cars don't go by often. Very soon afterwards, I hear a car again so I glance up again...and it's the SAME car, going by in the opposite direction! They slowed waaaaaaay down and just gawked. I put my hands on my hips and gave them a nasty look lol, and they took the hint and moved on. But I had to chuckle to myself. So yeah, that step made me laugh ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Dragonwiz/rofl.gif) But I do like the way the author keeps it lighthearted. Oh Geez, I can just imagine what was going through those gawkers minds. They thought you were a perv and all the time, they were the ones with dirty minds...........
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kitcat0601
Outhouse Monitor
Smooth Flyin' Jet AKA: "Rocky"
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Post by kitcat0601 on May 7, 2007 12:34:14 GMT -5
Julie, you might want to check youtube and make sure you arent on there in the dirty horse movie part.lol. Thats pretty funny what you said. People are strange, or maybe just wondering what you were doing.... I can hear it now "Oh, how horrid, that poor animal, how revolting" haha
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Linda
Stable Manager
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Maggie's new filly born 6-15-07
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Post by Linda on May 11, 2007 21:31:41 GMT -5
That's a great article. I had to laugh at step one of the cleaning process. The area where I tie my boy to bathe him is in front of a barn, but also fairly close to the end of the driveway. It is off of a very lightly travelled, dirt road. Once, during bath time and while cleaning (of course) Amistad's sheath, I heard a car drive by and glanced up to see since cars don't go by often. Very soon afterwards, I hear a car again so I glance up again...and it's the SAME car, going by in the opposite direction! They slowed waaaaaaay down and just gawked. I put my hands on my hips and gave them a nasty look lol, and they took the hint and moved on. But I had to chuckle to myself. So yeah, that step made me laugh ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Dragonwiz/rofl.gif) But I do like the way the author keeps it lighthearted. Oh my gosh that is sooo funny. I'd be so embarrassed just knowing what they were thinking.
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