# Ridiculously dirty sheath (a continuous problem)



## grayshell38 (Mar 9, 2009)

I have now cleaned my gelding's sheath three times in three months. 

The first time I noticed how gross he was looking, I cleaned him thoroughly with warm water and Excaliber and he was passably clean. Not perfect, but a whole heck of a lot better than he had been. 

Thinking that he would be good for a while I didn't pay much attention to it until a month or so later. I was stunned to see so much build up. There were big chunks of smegma that had oozed out and built up on the outside of his sheath. 

I cleaned again and just figured that it was because I didn't get him good enough last time. So he got a really thorough going over this time. 

Next time I notice it, he has massive amounts of excess smegma again. Deep cleaned him and same thing a month later. 

Am I going to be stuck doing mini cleans every two weeks or is there some reason he might be creating more smegma than (I think) is average? 

He is in a nice big field and is not standing in mud or filth all day. Poor guy. It bugs him so much that he is starting to really like getting cleaned. I can only imagine how uncomfortable he is...:-(


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

I had a gelding like that. He also started to really like being cleaned;-)
In between major cleanings I used to put baby oil in there and wipe it out next day with baby wipes. The oil gets everything softened and it wipes out easily.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

could be there was smegma stuck way up there . Some just get dirtier than others , and be glad he lets you clean without doping him.


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## BearPony (Jan 9, 2013)

Some geldings are just naturally dirtier than others. Clean as often as you need to. If he doesn't already, he will probably grow to like it as it will feel much nicer to him to be clean.

I also like to use mineral oil/unscented baby oil to do a quick clean in between major cleanings.


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## 2manypets (Mar 28, 2011)

I second the baby oil mini-cleans. Cleaning too often with a cleanser could possibly irritate him, causing his body to try to 'fix' the dryness problem by making more smegma.
Baby oil and then a good wipe down with baby wipes is a good compromise


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

I am against frequent cleanings with anything other than water.

Too much of anything, even baby oil, will kill off any good bacteria that might be in there.

If the smegma is that gooey and sort of "drips" out, sticking to his hair, he possibly might have an yeast infection or some other internal infection that is causing all that excees.

While it's true that some geldings do have more smegma than others, there reaches a "beyond moderation" point that perhaps the vet should look at him.

Although, vets oftentimes just shrug it off as being "that's just who this horse is".

A lady on my local forum just went thru this with her gelding. The vet finally concluded he had a yeast infection and put him on some sort of antibiotics that did eventually clear him up. He also had a puffy sheath thru all of this.

I have a gelding that developed some serious digestive issues - I am pretty sure it was from his supplement fermenting, eventhough it's kept in the house and the bag expiry was 10-13.

Because he looked like a victim of "cow bloat" and had enough methane gas to blow up the barn, the vet put him on a prescription herbal blend.

It took two months but my horse's digestive tract did get cleaned out.

The smegma discharge has improved considerably but it's still not what I consider normal. I wipe him out as needed with nothing more than warm water and yes, he thanks me profusely.

Using anything but warm water in this type of situation isn't go to help. The next time the vet has to come out for someone, I will have the vet look at him again. But, for now, I keep all that winter hair around the opening shaved clear back to the skin so I can keep him clean -- with nothing more than warm water - yukky


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## HagonNag (Jul 17, 2010)

If your gelding is producing that much smegma it may just be the gelding, or there may be a problem that a vet could treat. Either way, it has to be kept clean. I've been told that filthy sheaths full of smegma can encourage the growth of carcinomas. .


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## grayshell38 (Mar 9, 2009)

I'll look into baby oil and stuff. I used to use unscented baby wipes to keep my mare's teets clean, maybe a little wipe off with something like that would help if it was a every other day kind of thing?

I don't think he has an infection. The smegma is the same consistancy/smell as normal smegma. It isn't 'dripping', it is just 'leaking' out because there is so much of it. His sheath looks normal otherwise.

Luckily for me, his left testicle was late joining the party when he was little, so I was constantly checking to see if it dropped, so he is used to me messing around down at that end. As long as it is warm water, he puts up with me getting all up in there. That's helpful at least.

It is going to be time for shots again soon, so I'm going to have my vet take a look while he's out. 

I'm guessing that it's just him as individual, but I figured maybe it was something else. Bi-weekly mini cleans and monthly or so full cleans, boy, how did I get so lucky?:lol:


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Be glad he lets you.....;-)


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## nvr2many (Jan 18, 2011)

Maybe he thinks he is the lucky one, :lol:


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Might get a vet to look at this as he could have infection, or cancer of the penis too, as I have seen this happen.

But vet needs to be called and a thorough exam done.


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## SaddleOnline (Oct 20, 2011)

I had a gelding like this, he was always much gunkier than any of the other geldings I had previously owned. It wasn't as much of an issue in the summer when I could just rinse him out after each ride (water only!) but he was requiring a deep cleaning every other month or so with touch ups in-between. 

I did have the vet take a look at things, they couldn't find any reason other than the fact that he was very "affectionate" in the sense that when grooming/ tacking etc he would become excited and just "hung out" quite a bit. The conclusion was he was just a dirty guy who needed extra cleaning  

I feel your pain! Once you have ruled out any medical issues, baby oil and wipes are a great option for inbetween cleanings. Also, I ended up prefering Ivory liquid soap to Excalibur- not only is it less expensive but it rinses cleaner and does not leave a residue.


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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

My gelding takes great pride in being a PIG. The vet has literally removed hay, large shavings and god only knows what else...it's GROSS!

Not only is my guy a pig, he also firmly believes that he should be allowed to wallow in his piggishness and even when deeply sedated still tries to take out the poor Vet who has to clean him out. 

The Vet cleans him out probably 4x a year? Whenever he comes to the barn for anything, I'll have him sedate and clean him out.


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