I don't know what to tell ya. My boy drops and is like oh please please please clean down there! I don't do a particularly thorough cleaning since I do it so frequently (usually once a week-ish). That said, my husband's horse get his done maybe once a year because he has to be drugged out of his mind or he'll try to kill you.
About every 6 months I pull out the big guns and get a sheath cleaner (typically Excallibur) and do a through cleaning. Its never very bad though because I keep up with it all the time.
That said, once a week to prevent swelling seems like an awful lot. I don't think you should have to do it that often. I could leave my boy's alone for much much longer, but he doesn't mind and its easier and less gross to just keep it up than to let it all build up and then have to do a huge cleaning once or twice a year.
this. it's just not that gross if you keep up with it.
a horse at my barn died b/c of an unremoved bean blocking his urinary tract. the pony in the icon (a mare) ended up in severe pain (she was a school pony and started kicking all the kids if they touched her behind the girth) after developing impetigo from a bug bite on her udder. (and guess who got to take care of *that*? :)
That's ridiculously frequent for cleaning. Some of them do get more gunk than others, but seems really excessive to me ... I might give the vet a call and just see what they have to say. I mean, I know people like candysgirl who just pick at it whenever it's convenient and that's pretty frequently, but having to do it that often to prevent swelling?
As for dropping, well, some of them are shy about it! If there's any procedure he's going to be tranqued for coming up, that's a good time to do the first deep clean. A lot of the time even the shy ones just get so relaxed that they let it all hang out and you can clean away to your little heart's content.
One of my all time fav aspects of owning a gelding *major sarcasm with a hint of shudder*. I find my old boy will drop his if we have a really nice grooming session. Esp once I start in on his tummy or the head of his tail. I usually have to work pretty fast tho once it's out. I am SO only owning mares from now on ;)
My boy never dropped for cleaning, and only dropped a tiny bit to pee. Even tranq'ed for having his teeth floated, he didn't really drop.
I went in after it, 3 or 4 times a year (he'd get gunky and uncomfortable otherwise). I used a squirt of Nolvasan in a bucket of warm water, tore up a bunch of cotton batting and tossed it in there.
I'd put on gloves (that gunk gets under your nails!), grab some soaked cotton batting and squish it around up there to get things nice and wet and scrubbed. Even though you can't see what you're doing, you get to know the lay of the land, so to speak. It is entirely possible to get the bean even if he never drops.
We ALWAYS sedate..not a lot. just enough to get them to drop and stand without fussing. Maybe a calming supplement would be enough if your horse is a lightweight. haha
And we never used a sheath cleaning product-we just used mild, fragrance and color free liquid soap (like Ivory) in a bucket.
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About every 6 months I pull out the big guns and get a sheath cleaner (typically Excallibur) and do a through cleaning. Its never very bad though because I keep up with it all the time.
That said, once a week to prevent swelling seems like an awful lot. I don't think you should have to do it that often. I could leave my boy's alone for much much longer, but he doesn't mind and its easier and less gross to just keep it up than to let it all build up and then have to do a huge cleaning once or twice a year.
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a horse at my barn died b/c of an unremoved bean blocking his urinary tract. the pony in the icon (a mare) ended up in severe pain (she was a school pony and started kicking all the kids if they touched her behind the girth) after developing impetigo from a bug bite on her udder. (and guess who got to take care of *that*? :)
"a stitch in time saves nine"....
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As for dropping, well, some of them are shy about it! If there's any procedure he's going to be tranqued for coming up, that's a good time to do the first deep clean. A lot of the time even the shy ones just get so relaxed that they let it all hang out and you can clean away to your little heart's content.
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I went in after it, 3 or 4 times a year (he'd get gunky and uncomfortable otherwise). I used a squirt of Nolvasan in a bucket of warm water, tore up a bunch of cotton batting and tossed it in there.
I'd put on gloves (that gunk gets under your nails!), grab some soaked cotton batting and squish it around up there to get things nice and wet and scrubbed. Even though you can't see what you're doing, you get to know the lay of the land, so to speak. It is entirely possible to get the bean even if he never drops.
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*rolls up sleeves and takes a deep breath*
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And we never used a sheath cleaning product-we just used mild, fragrance and color free liquid soap (like Ivory) in a bucket.
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