Where is the sheath on a horse

Put the clean hand in the bucket of water to collect a piece of cotton. Pass the cotton from the clean hand to the dirty hand, and put the dirty hand in the sheath. Once the cotton is dirty, discard it and repeat. Once the loose debris is removed, place a small amount of soap in the dirty hand and use it to degrease the sheath and break up more debris.

Repeat as necessary. Visually inspect and manually feel for a bean hard lump in the diverticulum at the end of the penis. If a bean is found, lever it out of the space. At this point, veterinarians will also inspect and palpate the sheath, prepuce and penis for tumours, abrasions, and injury. Related: Horse Care Through the Seasons. To read more of Tania Millen's articles on this site, click here. Horse Riding to be Dropped from Modern Pentathlon.

The Power of Play with Our Horses. Royal Agricultural Winter Fair to Return in John Prescott - Rhodococcus Equine Bacteria. I deworm my horse….. Skip to main content. Login My account. Stallion , Grooming , Prevention , How-To. Equine Sports Medicine. Use a commercial sheath cleaner, such as Excalibur or Equi-Pro. These products cut through the grease, have a pleasant odor, and make sheath cleaning easier. Warm water also helps cut grease—and your horse will like it better.

Fiction: My horse swishes his tail and sometimes raises a hind leg when I clean his sheath, but he'd never kick me. Fact: Don't be so sure! Some horses really resent this procedure. They'll not only kick--but they'll do so fast and hard. To be safe, stand well forward, by your horse's shoulder, and reach back to his sheath.

If he continues to threaten you, he may need to be sedated by your veterinarian. Tip: To save time and money, ask your vet to clean your horse's sheath during another routine procedure that involves sedation, such as dentistry. Fiction: I can't clean my horse's sheath unless he drops his penis—which he won't do unless he's sedated.

Fact: You can do a very thorough job even when your horse hasn't dropped--simply by reaching up inside. In this case, you'll need to go in up to your elbow, so wear a long disposable glove to avoid getting the greasy, smelly smegma on your arm and sleeve. Ask your vet for an obstetrical glove—it's perfect for the job. You'll also need a bucket of warm water and about 20 heavy-duty paper towels. To clean your horse's sheath, put a generous dollop of sheath cleaner about 2 to 3 tablespoons in your hand, along with a wet towel.

Reach up into your horse's sheath, and gently work the accumulated grime loose. When the towel gets soiled, grab a new one, and keep working until the towel comes back clean. Clean all the way from his sheath's opening up to the base of his penis. Depending on how dirty the sheath is, you may need to use additional cleaner as you go.

Fact: Not yet. Once you've removed the smegma, check for and remove the bean-a ball of whitish goo that forms within a small pocket at the tip of your horse's penis. If not removed, a bean can get as large as a walnut and obstruct urine flow, which can cause your horse discomfort and potential harm.

If you don't know how to remove the bean, ask your vet to show you. Finally, rinse thoroughly with clean water and clean towels. Or, if your horse will tolerate it, run the hose up inside his sheath. You'll know you've done a thorough job when the paper towel in your hand comes out as clean as it went in, and the rinse water runs clear. Where-to-Ride Guide. The traditional method of poking a hose up into the sheath and scrubbing it and the penis with sponges and antibacterial soap removes the natural protective covering and healthy bacteria population, potentially causing microabrasions and sores.

To -encourage him to let down for cleaning, try bathing him on a warm, sunny day. Then stand by his front legs to avoid getting stepped on if he sidesteps during the process. Wearing disposable gloves, gently grasp the end of his penis with one hand and run the other hand up the shaft, knocking off the smegma. You should be able to clean the penis adequately this way without using water.

If necessary, though, you can run a small stream of warm water over the penis—but avoid scrubbing with towels or sponges. Then pat the penis dry with paper towels. This will just stimulate his fear mechanism, making it harder to clean his sheath in the future. Instead, ask your veterinarian to sedate him and perform the cleaning for you. Expect whatever cleaning you do to be short-lived. A specialist in equine reproduction and infertility , Dr. Benjamin Espy has practiced veterinary medicine in Texas and Kentucky and is board certified in equine reproduction and licensed to practice acupuncture.

Here are some myths commonly used to justify this practice: Myth 1: Accumulation on the penis is dirty and unhygienic.