Excaliber: Still the only stuff you put up a sheath?

[beowulf]

I was always told the more you clean them, the dirtier it gets. I knew a boarder who cleaned her gelding regularly with Excalibur and it was impressive how filthy he got up there. Chicken or egg, not sure — but I do think regular cleaning absent a medical reason does tend to kill off the pH balance and beneficial bacteria up in there.

I’ll admit I’ve cleaned my guy’s sheath once in the seven years I’ve owned him. He’s due for a cleaning but he took it so personally last time, lol! N=1 observation but my guys that are out 24/7 stay much cleaner than when they’re stalled regularly.

I prefer warm water and diluted Ivory — which is also my preference for wiping down tack with a damp rag. None of this “single use” stuff in my barn — I prefer almost everything have a broad application of purposes.

[Plumcreek]

“Why Furacin?” Because it is anti-microbial , and water soluable, so rinses out clean. Nice and slimy to apply and gelding thinks it feels good when my hand is way up in his sheath finding small crusty spots of crud between the melanomas.

Those who use KY Jelly should experience the strange looks you get when you are cleaning out the cheap tubes of it in the Condom section at Walmart.

[JB]

@Plumcreek

“Why Furacin?” Because it is anti-microbial

Rarely are antimicrobial products necessary, or useful, and can be detrimental if used regularly.

The idea isn’t to sanitize things, the idea is to get the smegma out.

Healthy penises and sheaths have healthy bacterial colonies. Constantly disrupting that - soap, furacin, whatever - is going to create problems sooner rather than later. 1-2 times a year wouldn’t be a problem. Much more than that, just use something water-soluble that softens and rinses clean, without upsetting the necessary bacteria living there.

[Plumcreek]

JB, I may clean it every 3-4 months or so with Furacin, when there is a lot of crud at the sheath or he is rubbing his rear end. His is not a healthy sheath. Maye 25 melanomas in the sheath itself, all the way up, and several are golf ball size tha make it not self clean as well. Sometimes I use KY Jelly, depends on now bad it looks when dropped. This gelding has melanomas everywhere.

[JB]

Yes, some boys are just dirty dirty dirty. But unless you have a specific reason for something antimicrobial in there, I wouldn’t use it. It’s not going to help the melanomas.

If we disrupt the healthy bacteria enough, it’s a perpetuating cycle - use antimicrobial to help with the self-caused infections, but it clears up and it’s still used anyway “just because”, which keeps any healthy bacteria from building up (as well as “bad” bacteria), but stuff moves in anyway, and the bad can overrun the good, so you’re back to “needing” the antibacterial stuff.

Food for thought.

[StormyDay]

I use baby no tears shampoo. It’s gentle and easy to wash out.

I also use winky wash and udder stuff. It smells nice, but the baby shampoo is cheaper.

I wash udders every week. If I didn’t my mare would riot. One gelding is prone to beans so he is washed every few weeks. The other one is done every few months.

[Xanthoria]

Baby oil gel - unscented if possible. It doesn’t drip off your hands when you’re trying to apply. Very gentle so if you don’t remove it all no worries. My last gelding lived out 24/7 in a dusty pasture and I cleaned him 2x a year. Didn’t seem to attract dirt at all.

[SonnysMom]

Add me to the list of KY Jelly. I also knew a horse that had a bad reaction to Excaliber. I figure KY Jelly is supposed to be used in sensitive areas on people and not scald. I have a sensitive skinned grey/white pinto that never had an issue with the KY Jelly. This horse got scurf on his back from Sore No More so he is pretty sensitive.

[mvp]

All you people who would send me out to buy the jumbo-sized container of lube: Don’t you think that even the cheapest of that will cost more than Excalibur?

Someone who buys lube in quantity can reply.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

@luvmyhackney

KY jelly is my usual go to

Yep… my old man will drop when being groomed so I have a tube ready and slather it on… it softens everything up and is easy to wash out the next day.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

@mvp

Someone who buys lube in quantity can reply.

I bought walmart out when they had an off brand marked way down. 2 years later I still have tubes left I used self check out

[Shagyas_Rock]

I use Dawn dishwashing liquid - I just squirt some into a bucket of warm water … … it seems to work really well for cutting that greasy disgusting smegma. … and I make sure I rinse thoroughly with a hose.

[Simkie]

@mvp

All you people who would send me out to buy the jumbo-sized container of lube: Don’t you think that even the cheapest of that will cost more than Excalibur?

A gallon is like nine bucks. Lasts forever. No, it doesn’t costs more than Excalibur.

https://www.scahealth.com/p/ob-lube

[Angela_Freda]

@mvp

All you people who would send me out to buy the jumbo-sized container of lube: Don’t you think that even the cheapest of that will cost more than Excalibur?

When you factor in a vet bill from one reaction?
Nope.

[spencerlucy]

I use the sheath/udder cleanser from Equiderma. My gelding gets horribly itchy in the summer and has been known to chew on himself so I tend to wipe out his sheath with some wet 4x4 gauze with a squirt of the Equiderma cleanser and that hasn’t irritated him ever and rinses very clean. When he does get a bit of inflammation or irritation from fly bites I follow up the cleaning with a smear of silver sulfadiazine cream and he is a much happier fellow. After following this regimen for the last three summers I have not been greeted by a swollen and bloody sheath or penis so it seems to work.

[Chief2]

Excalibur and similar commercial sheath cleaning products contain Tea Tree Oil, which can cause burning and swelling of the sheath in horses that are sensitive to Tea Tree Oil. Additionally, it can also cause the sheath to swell up so much that it closes tightly shut so the horse cannot drop his penis out to urinate, and you are then into a colic situation requiring a vet, resulting in a very large vet bill particularly if you cleaned the horse on a Sunday. A freind of mine ended up with this problem not once, but twice, both on Sundays, until she figured out the Tea Tree Oil connection.

I would use one of the other gentler cleaning methods described in the above posts.

[J-Lu]

I, umm, clean my gelding’s sheath once a week with warm water. I live in a hot climate so I have to rinse him anyway with warm water (he hates cold water even though it is hot here). I peel the smegma off of the walls of the outer parts of his sheath with the hose aimed up there. He’ll drop with my hand and I, umm, rub the smegma off of this penis with the hose on it. All on the “shower” setting and warm temps. My friends say “get a room” because the whole process is not decent but it works very well for my gelding and his health and comfort are #1. He lets me check for beans and remove them. I think I’m the only one that tells my vet NOT to wash his sheath during sedation for his yearly dental. I’ve got it all under control.

[lolalola]

I clean my boys regularly using just my bare hand (I bite my nails so they are not an issue). I simply strip the crud off the penis and turn the head segments looking for beans. I must have a knack for this, because the various geldings I’ve had over the years all became very good about it. I used my late QH gelding to show others at my barn basic penile anatomy, because many people seem to think there is one “bean” and don’t realize there may be several in there.

[CPL713]

Water only, maybe once or twice a year, though I do spray up there pretty frequently in the summer when I’m hosing him off after a workout. I don’t like to use anything that could upset the pH or cause issues if I don’t rise well enough – I’ve seen that cause more problems that a dirty sheath.

[Pally]

@lolalola

I clean my boys regularly using just my bare hand (I bite my nails so they are not an issue).

Hope you don’t bite them right after sheath cleaning.

I too am an “opportunistic” and thus frequently barehanded cleaner. I’m looking for beans and pulling off excessive build-up. I don’t believe “squeaky clean” is the healthiest goal. In fact the horses I’ve seen to be frequently scubbed and “Excalibured” were the dirtiest, stinkiest, … er, smooshiest … ones of all.

If I feel like I need something to break up the chunks, I like the lube or aloe vera gel (pure, had it on hand to feed. Not sure I would trust the sunburn type stuff with additives). I’ve used oil a handful of times, and while most of the time it was fine, I had a couple incidences of mild puffiness, so won’t do that anymore.

My little lube chuckle… you know how sometimes people with office jobs take paper clips and pens home from work? Well, when I first learned of this sheath cleaning method I worked at a university barn that kept a herd of cows who had the noble job of teaching rectal palpation. There was a wall of shelving FULL of lube, so I did nab a few squirts and a plastic sleeve. No one noticed, but I suppose that would have been an awkward situation if I had needed to explain.