Smegma/grease on hind legs

[CanteringCarrot]

I’ve recently noticed that my gelding will often have a patch of smegma or grease like gray material on the inner upper parts of his hind legs. He’s never has this before and I sometimes notice that the opening of his sheath seems to be a little dirty. However, he was sedated for the dentist the other day, so naturally I took advantage of that. His actual penis is very clean, and there was no bean. Inside of the sheath wasn’t bad either.

He is not itchy, swollen, nor does he appear to be in pain.

So, what causes this? How do I prevent it? I just scrape it off of the legs everyday, but I want to know why and how it even gets there. Any insight to this somewhat gross matter?

[MontysGal]

I’m following because I’d love to know what this stuff is too. I thought it related to blankets (hind leg elastic straps) but my gelding gets it sometimes even without blankets… always worse in winter.

I just spray it with a 50/50 mix of baby oil and Listerine then curry it - a day or two of that and it disappears for a while.

[2Below]

It’s smegma. How often do you clean his sheath? I’m not sure the mechanics of how it gets there, other than it’s sticky stuff and probably falls out of the sheath and sticks. I have a little gelding who needs his sheath cleaned at least once a month or has this issue. I think it’s worse in the winter because they tend to not move around as much and it just accumulates.

[kcmel]

Well, if you have access to warm water you could try cleaning his sheath, even if it doesn’t feel particularly dirty. For my gelding this is a sign that it’s time to clean.

[SaratogaTB]

Apply Equiderma lotion to the area and just leave it. You will see a big difference quickly.

[hank]

I think it gets stuck to the legs when they lie down and there is a chunk of smegma ready to fall out of the sheath.

[maunder]

I have a metabolic mini gelding that has lots of smegma ‘leakage’ in the winter months. It’s too cold to bathe here so when it’s above freezing (and will be for a bit) I also do the Equiderma routine on the inside of his gaskins and on his cannon bones. He doesn’t have this issue in the warmer months.

[Color_of_Light]

[QUOTE=CanteringCarrot;9041799]
I’ve recently noticed that my gelding will often have a patch of smegma or grease like gray material on the inner upper parts of his hind legs. He’s never has this before and I sometimes notice that the opening of his sheath seems to be a little dirty. However, he was sedated for the dentist the other day, so naturally I took advantage of that. His actual penis is very clean, and there was no bean. Inside of the sheath wasn’t bad either.

He is not itchy, swollen, nor does he appear to be in pain.

So, what causes this? How do I prevent it? I just scrape it off of the legs everyday, but I want to know why and how it even gets there. Any insight to this somewhat gross matter?[/QUOTE]

Overproduction of smegma can be a sign of an imbalance in flora, particularly yeast. If he’s producing so much that you’re having to scrape it off every day, that sounds like like a lot to me. He possibly needs to be cleaned and possibly has an imbalance in his flora. It wouldn’t hurt to try clean him and try some yeast infection cream to see if that clears it up. Yeast infection medication can be purchased super inexpensive on amazon.

[maunder]

Yes, and metabolic issues (Equine Metabolic Syndrome) are also sometimes linked to excessive production of smegma, which is most likely the case with my gelding. My other two geldings have never had a smegma issue.

It certainly is an interesting (but yucky) problem.

[mellsmom]

I would pas son the Yeast infection medicine. My gelding got HUGE hives from it

[tazycat]

I have 2 geldings and have never had the issue of smegma on their hind legs. Their cleaned once a year when teeth get floated. I check for beans every month or so in between vet cleaning them. I think one can over do the sheath cleaning and cause problems.

In summer after riding I rinse them out with garden hose while hosing them off after a hard ride. Their used to having sheath rinsed out and seem to like it. Neither are ever real dirty when vet cleans them…think rinsing them helps.

[SuckerForHorses]

Is it on his legs, or his sheath?

My mare gets a greasy smegma on her inner legs if she gets sweaty during rides and I don’t do a good enough job hosing her off after. It will remain until I groom her next if there is any leftover.

[walkinthewalk]

One of my geldings started to get filthy dirty, to where I had to clean inside him and his legs every five weeks like clockwork - I kept track on the calendar.

He wasn’t always like that - it started somewhere in his late teens.

Then I got my Ace equine chiro back who also practices acupuncture and some Eastern medicine.

She put this horse on a prescription herbal product from Dr. Xie, for two months for something that I thought was completely unrelated to the filthy sheath.

For whatever reasons I don’t understand, the product not only cleared up the problem it was intended for but also stopped all that smelly leakage in the sheath. That was a year ago, and while I check him for beans often, I have only had to clean his sheath once.

I don’t get it, I’m not getting in a spittin’ contest with the alternative medicine naysayers. Whatever was in that tub of herbs did double duty and I’m ecstatic with not having to “go in” up to my elbow every five weeks:)

[Color_of_Light]

[QUOTE=mellsmom;9042265]
I would pas son the Yeast infection medicine. My gelding got HUGE hives from it[/QUOTE]

Poor guy! I’m sorry to hear that. Which kind was it? There are 4 or so different types.

[CFFarm]

Could be seborrhea. Get the vet to check it out.

[keysfins]

If it is on the legs, he may be bumping his sheath with his leg(s) if he is itchy. I’ve seen it, and just clean it off the hind legs.

[Risk-Averse_Rider]

My palomino gets it, too - but not the others with darker hair where it wouldn’t look so gross

(And yes, I’ve checked them.)

In the summer, when he gets hosed off a lot, and I almost always hose off up inside his sheath, he doesn’t get it. And when he was swimming, lordy, his wedding tackle was SPOTLESS!!

Nasty stuff. Blech.

[fjordmom]

As maunder noted, may be associated with metabolic issues. I came across this article when I was looking into EMS info. First time I had heard about that.

I have a new pony that showed some possible EMS signs. I had also noted earlier that he had the black goo on his hind cannons now and then. Until I saw the article/photo had not made any connection. He is also a pony that does not drop his penis when he pees. I asked my vet about it. She shrugged it off, saying some are just like that. He is totally capable of dropping, as he will do so while randomly standing around.

Tested him for EMS/IR/Cushings - results negative.

I just clean him more often than my other one. He doesn’t seem itchy or otherwise bothered about it.