Er ...do i clean his willy?

[Santi]

What does everyone else 'do' with their geldings willys?
My horse has a pretty scabby one at the moment, i have read instructions for reaching up and pulling it out, but then what? Does it get cleaned with soap (or is that a bit harsh?) or a bit of oil? Should i just leave it alone - what happens to it naturally?

(no sniggering please i'm trying to make this a serious thread!!)

[CMR]

Just a technical term for you, sheath ;). No embarassment in saying it. :D They do have sheath cleaning wipes/"soaps," which would be a lot safer than mixing one up yourself. If he is acting irritated, you do need to clean it. Tail rubbing, kicking up at his stomach, dropping a lot, etc, are sometimes signs that your horse has a dirty sheath. Basically what you do is pull out gunk ;) It is very smelly and can stain, so make sure you wear gloves(doi :p ) and old clothes. I'm not sure what happens naturally, that is something I would be interested in knowing.

[Hummond]

To clean the horses sheath you'll need some cotton wool and some warm water and some rubber gloves.

Just gently clean it, peel of any dead skin. You don't want to use anything else and it may react to this sensitive part of the horse.

Just make sure its clean.

[virtuallyhorses]

I dunno that I'd use cotton wool ..? wouldn't it leave little bits behind everywhere that could potentially lead to infection.

I use a small sponge. I don't bother with rubber gloves either, they get full of water and you can't feel the smegma inside the sheath very well. You should be cleaning inside the sheath not just the penis, this means reaching right inside and cleaning as much gunk from the inside as possible - you can reach right in almost up to your elbow. It shouldn't really be smelly, but it is black and rather unattractive ;) Latex medical type gloves would be better if you are worried about this - or just give you hands a good scrub before (to protect him from your germs) and after.

There are good sheath cleaning products but NEVER use soaps and particularly don't use anti-bacterial products as there are good bacteria in there that protect the environment.

[Silver1]

This is copied from another thread about sheath cleaning and is the best, and I think funniest, way of learning how to clean a sheath:

The Story from Ms Hand herself


Step 1) Check to make sure there are no prospective boyfriends, elderly neighbours, 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 Ms 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 Ms 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 till 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 Ms 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 Ms 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 IME 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 Ms 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 permanent damage as a result ;-> I have never in my life seen another bean that enormous, though.

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, IME. 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-**, you are done! Say, "Good horse" 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.)

Now you can go and have a go...LOL

[BeachRiding]

Ha,ha funny Silver1!

[lindaf89]

Hi Santi,
Don't quote me on this, but I can remember a few years ago I did Horse Studies as one of my high school subjects.
The subject of sheath cleaning came up at a racing stable that we visited and I am pretty sure that the teacher said that stallions don't get the dried skin that geldings get. Maybe they have a self cleaning mechanism as naturally in the wild they wouldn't be able to afford to risk spreading infections to their mares and losing their potential offspring.
As I said, I might be wrong and make an idiot out of myself, but that's what I remember.

[Santi]

Wow thanks guys... im glad to report my horse doesn't appear to have too much gunky stuff, just dried skin and maybe a 'bean'...(never tried that one!) He hangs it out alot so its gets alot of air!
We shall experiment further!

[cvb]

santi

there has been lots of discussion on this subject before - just try a search and you'll see ! Arguments for and against cleaning - my point of view is that at least you should check regularly (e.g. for the bean) and clean when necessary. It does seem to vary quite a lot how "dirty" they get. I'm sure the water they are drinking is one factor...

[Sam and Blake]

the reason a stallions is kept clean especially in the wild because they are having sexual intercourse with mares which keeps it clean because it is regularly being used.Hope that makes sense.

[Imp]

Feeling relieved to have bought a mare :eek:

Loved Ms Hand though, LOL :D :D

How frequently does this need to be done?

[NoviceNic]

Captain will not let me anywhere near his sensitive area... He kicks out and stomps and spins around. So I have resorted to squirting sheath cleaner on when it is out or baby oil..

[cvb]

Feeling relieved to have bought a mare :eek:

Loved Ms Hand though, LOL :D :D

How frequently does this need to be done?

but you clean your mare's udder right ?!

NoviceNic - you might find it helps not to see this as a "I must do THIS... NOW"

When you groom him, run your hand over his tummy. Its useful to check for nicks, bites etc anyway. So move your hand - keeping the contact - in the general direction. Do NOT make it your arm to grab his bits :eek: And as soon as he shows any sign of worry, back off just a little. Repeat about a million times ;) Over time he will decide maybe you are not such a threat.

The other thing is to remember that the skin etc is very sensitive there - so check you aren't actually "tickling" :o It needs to be firm calm contact.

[Ross]

Geldings don't occur naturally, so the answer is 'nothing happens'! Stallions seem to keep themselves clean...

Geldings vary considerably - I knew someone who never cleaned hers, and he was fine - both mine got disgusting! I used to just use warm water and cotton wool - Fire was allergic to those sheath cleaning wipes and swelled rather alarmingly when I tried them. Fortunately no harm done, but it was pretty worrying.

Mrs Hand sounds all too familiar - when Rohan was young he lived in a field next to a public footpath. I was just in the throes of groping about, when along came a party of middle aged lady hikers - who were, needless to say, fascinated and horrified by what might be happening!

Ross

[Skyhuntress]

You know, I had a trainer who told me the best way to clean a horse's sheath was right after riding-when a vast majority of them pee-squirt some baby oil up there, leave for a couple of minutes and rinse.

Seriously, the oil cleans EVERYTHING. She only does hers about once a year and its plenty. They seem to stay relatively clean and are definately healthy

[nicolaj]

Only clean the sheath if it really needs it.

When he pops it out for an 'airing' just squirt it with baby oil and to be honest, that tends to keep it clean. He has learnt to recognise the bottle and it disappears sharpish!

[virtuallyhorses]

Don't use baby oil - oil just makes everything stick to it and it get's gunkier (I think that's a new word I just made up but feel free to use it without fear of royalties) and don't forget that the penis is only about 1/4 of what you should be checking and cleaning so just looking at the penis when it is hanging about doesn't tell you whether the sheath is clean. Read Mrs Hand 5 onwards if all you have ever done is squirt something on the dangly bits.

With regards to natural cleaning - of course while there are no geldings there are plenty of bachelors (colts and stallions that are never good enough to have sex).

[santana]

heres some help and a bit of a laugh http://www.horsewyse.com.au/sheath.html
umm this will give u step by step guide and well a laugh.... which on this topic may be needed lol

[Styric]

That was already posted Santana :)