To Boldly Go Where No Woman Has Gone Before ...

And hello to all you owners of Geldings out there! Here is a great topic to start and observe the reactions one gets:

"Ok, so how do I clean his sheath?"

"Clean his SHEATH? Why would you want to do that?"

"Well, frankly, it's not looking / smelling too good ... surely this is part of our responsibility."

Silence .... mildly embarrassed coughing ... followed by statements such as below:

"Well, I've never done it ... " - "I've never thought about it." - "Oh I'm so glad I have a mare!"

Ok,  I am on my own on this one.

I do fully understand that opinion's differ in this matter (does it need to be cleaned or not) but I decided that he needed a clean as it was very clearly not in a great condition and so I was reading up on the matter. However, please PLEASE do consult with your vet also.

In the wild were they remain 'busy' it will be naturally kept clean. But the way we keep them, his manliness needs to be looked after. The 'crusty stuff' - in other words the SMEGMA needs to be removed at least once a year, ideally twice for the sake of the horse' health.

And then there is the BEAN - a build up of SMEGMA that has built up and gone hard inside the horse' penis. This can be very painful for him and it needs to be checked.

Again, there are very helpful articles online but do consult with your VET.

So, with this task in order, I started to plan my approach in the matter ...

'Mr F' has become accustomed to me over the past months. I made a point of being able to touch him anywhere and I do spend time with him every day while grooming. The question was: would he be willing to stand still while I was about to explore a new world and would boldly go where probably no woman has gone before?

For the next few days I was testing his willingness to accept my wandering hands near the 'target' area. I did so casually while grooming and cleaning hooves. At first he turned his head looking at me with his typical 'Just WHAT are you up to now?' face, which makes me laugh each time. I thought that as an ex-racehorse, he may have been used to this, but obviously not so, or at least not with me doing it.

I was 'practising' for a good two weeks until he was absolutely fine with me being this personal.

The time had come: one evening I decided that it was as good a moment as any. I groomed and fed 'Mr F' after which he switches into his usual 'chill out' mode.

The road was clear for me, and I was equipped with the surgical gloves and the sponge and cotton wool!  There was just one minor problem, he did not drop. I had to go in!

Here I would like to point out that one must CUT BACK one's FINGERNAILS!

All the while I had positioned myself so that if 'Mr F' decides to kick, I would know about it before he even got there and would be able to either stop him or escape.

But I had nothing to worry about, he stood still for the entire duration (a good 30 minutes!). I was amazed ... considering my inexperienced hands. There was much stuff to remove and I did a check for the bean but could not find anything.

I used just clean luke warm water (no soap!). I have never done this before so I was most pleased with 'Mr F' for standing still so calmly, albeit a little uncertain why I was where I was ...

Well, another experience noted in the books!