It’s that time of the year again, and my guy is really gross although he doesn’t mind the process. :winkgrin: I have used excalibur, as well as some gentle soaps. But I was looking around Smartpak and saw they have a new one that is glycerin based. I’ve used glycerin on my own face, and it makes my skin lovely soft and clean. So I was thinking he might enjoy that as well! Maybe add a few drop of lavender essential oil?
Thoughts?
I don’t think I’d be sticking scented essential oils up there.
I have never owned a gelding but was under the impression that glycerine lubes like KY jelly were exactly what you needed for sheath cleaning especially in winter when you can’t use water. Don’t know if that’s what you mean by glycerine though. You definitely would want to use glycerine soap up there.
Then there’s how you feel about walking up to the cashier at the drug store with 5 tubes of economy sized KY jelly.
I usually just use water and maybe a swipe with heavily diluted Dawn or Orvus. I definitely don’t care if it smells like lavender up there!
I would not put any essential oil in my horse’s sheath or on his peen. I used plain astroglide last time. Worked great. I did put it in an empty Excalibur bottle though for appearance sake at the barn (lots of littles there).
I’ll second water-based lube. Gets the job done and rinses easily. Though most geldings are probably not as tolerant of hose insertion for rinsing as mine was (not full insertion, but 2-3 inches to make sure the water was getting where it was needed).
Sorry, I certainly was not planning on putting essential oils directly on his bits. I was thinking more about making a little diy cleaner with diluting vegetable glycerin with water and maybe adding a drop or two of lavender to that. Less about the smell, more about the cleansing properties of lavender. I worry about irritation with the soaps, and the lubes don’t really clean/degrease. Vegetable glycerin doesn’t have a suds factor but still seems to clean.
Well, how sticky is his smegma? A lot of horses have dry peely smegma so you use the lube to comfortably get your hand/arm up in his business and you peel and remove the smegma mechanically. If he’s one that has gooey smegma maybe you need more. As a former Pony Clubber sheath cleaning may be one of the best reasons to ride mares. :lol::lol::lol:
I still wouldn’t feel comfortable using essential oils in that location, even if you think about diluting it. They can be so caustic and that region is so delicate that it would be a bad, bad day to find out that now is when your horse decided to exhibit a skin sensitivity to it.
My feeling exactly. Don’t add anything to horse care products that’s just to pretty it up for humans. Especially on eyes mucous membranes or genitals.
My mare gets her butt and udder washed in plain warm hose water in the summer.
Usually plenty of warm water and a hose is enough, and my guy gets really gross, frequently. He rolls a lot, and I think this contributes.
When he’s sedated for the dentist I can usually pick off gently with my hands/flake off some crud.
I slather mineral oil up in the sheath pre-ride. That seems to loosen el grungeemess sufficiently for a post ride wash with ivory dish soap and warm water.
LAVENDER??? ANY ESSENTIAL OIL!!! THAT’S A NOPE FROM ME DAWG!! I usually just put a bar of good ole Ivory into a bucket of warm water and let it start to dissolve for a bit then use that soapy water to clean and finish with a warm water rinse. People go way to far with sheath cleaning in my opinion, it is not meant to be disinfected or smell like flowers. Less is more in this situation.
When I was in grad school studying chemistry there was a temporary shortage of a particular antidote gel we kept for accidental exposure to HF solutions (very poisonous and corrosive and will burn right through skin and bone, but the antidote binds the F if applied immediately after exposure). The DIY version was a mixture of calcium gluconate (available at through the chemicals catalog) in KY jelly. We sent the poor unsuspecting foreign post-doc to the drug store to get the KY. 
Once on a very early morning trip to Walmart I picked up petroleum jelly , diapers, duct tape, yarn, and carrots. Thankfully the cashier didn’t speak enough English to say anything.
Man, go all out and get the good stuff at the sex shop.
Cashier: That’s a big bottle, have fun! wink wink nudge nudge
Me: I’m cleaning horse penises with it.
Cashier: That sounds kinky.
Essential oils are strong! Way more likely to cause irritation and burning than soap. Not to be crude, but if you wouldn’t put it on your who ha, don’t go putting it on sensitive areas of a horse.
Eta: My old Percheron gelding was terrible about having his feet handled. Picking out his feet was such a process that I practically needed a nap afterwards. Naturally, I assumed he would be terrible about his sheath. Nope! He’d just stand there half asleep and let it all hang out. 😖
I put unscented mineral oil in a squeeze bottle and keep it in my grooming tray. Whenever my gelding drops, like after a good workout and I’m currying him, I’ll give a couple good squirts with the oil. No contact necessary. When he draws up, his own body heat will soften any smegma and it basically self cleans. Easy peasy!
This sounds like a perfectly normal trip to Walmart to me!
For ones that get really gunky, I’ve found water based libe to be better than something like glycerine or mineral oil. The latter seems to attract more dirt. But I most often just use some warm water.
Baby oil gel for me. Slather it on, pick off bits, hose off if I remember. If not it’s fine too.
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