On Friday my Mother in Law came over to help me with a little something; she brought gloves, if that gives you a hint.
We cleaned Hammar's sheath! The poor boy has always had a sensitive, um, private area. I know it hurt him, and I strongly suspect that's why he has been scratching his hindquarters so much. We had him tied to the inner tube that is wrapped around a pole while I got started. I used another article from an old Perfect Horse to guide me; I stood at Hammar's shoulder so I was out of kicking range. And a good thing, too - Hammar did several cow kicks before he settled. We found it worked best to get some of the Excalibur sheath cleaner (I love that name!) soaking into the smegma, then let Hammar walk for a minute or two before he got tied up again. Then we pulled out a few chunks of ickinesss, reapplied more sheath cleaner, and let him walk some more. By that time he was fine with the whole affair. We ended up taking turns, then used a Pepsi bottle to rinse him (the hose water was too cold). We filled it up with warm water, then squeezed the water into the sheath. Once the water was dripping out clear we applied some baby oil to keep everything soft. That afternoon, while Hammar was eating, he finally dropped and I saw how much better he looked! He still had raw spots (it was bad) but nothing was rubbing them anymore. So now he can heal up and I feel comfortable enough to do it again and again every spring! We didn't find any "beans", the little lumps of smegma that can collect above the urethra, so I hope Hammar just didn't have one...
And guess what I'll be doing next weekend! I still have about half a bottle of Excalibur for Nine... Maybe we'll get pictures this time!
5 years ago
2 comments:
Hey there! I am totally behind on my blogging! I get mine written up, and that is about it.
Sounds like you had quite the adventure! It is not a fun job, but they seem so much happier afterwards.
So, today is the 24th...have you seen improvement with the itching? Priscilla mentioned the pinworms already. Do you all have ticks? Even in winter we seem to have tiny ticks, and I am constantly picking them off.
I sure hope Hammar gets to feeling better. I just can't imagine being a horse and not being able to get that good scratch when you need it! ACK!
Karen and Tripp
Hey there Karen!
I have only seen one tick out here on a horse... It's too dry for ticks to be much of a problem. Most dogs don't even have them :P Hammar's tail hasn't been showing much healing, but he doesn't have any new cuts or scrapes, either...
I was planning to do Nine this weekend, but it's on the nippy side, and with the breeze I think it would more cruel to get his sensitive bits wet than to leave him dirty for another week or so!
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