>Did anyone in this list ever notice that the email is ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx? And not ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxx. So, why don't we quit
talking about sheath cleaning and get on with endurance. There are plenty of
things we can say. I for one, can't say much, considering that I'm a younger
person, and I'm a newbie, but still, I signed up for ridecamp to learn about
endurance, and not about all the other stuff that has been said around
here.
Well, Laura, I'll be among the first to say that I've used
my delete key liberally during this thread, and you are right that discussion of
people's anthropomorphism, Victorian guilt trips, etc. as they relate to sheath
cleaning is not relevant to endurance. That said, what IS relevant to
endurance is keeping one's horse healthy enough to compete happily and
comfortably. I haven't commented on this thread yet, but consider that
smegma and/or a "bean" in the urethral sinus can make it uncomfortable for male
horses to urinate (and folks, stallions can have this problem too, although they
are a) less prone to it than geldings, and b) less common than geldings on the
endurance circuit), resulting in oddities of gait due to either holding urine
too long to avoid the discomfort of urination or to just simply moving oddly
because his sheath and penis hurt. Such a thing in turn can result in a
horse having back or leg pain (certainly relevant to endurance), or to simply
being irritated and uncomfortable, causing the poor critter's heart rate to stay
up (again, also relevant to endurance). We discuss other things on this
list that cause pain, from poor saddle fit to poor riding habits to allergies to
poor shoeing to you-name-it--and those are ALL relevant to endurance
riding. So please explain to me why pain in the sheath or the urethral
sinus would not be relevant to endurance? Discussion of sheath cleaning as
it pertains to products used (Excalibur, etc.), helpful hints (hadn't heard the
one about the old socks--that was a good one--thanks, whoever offered that
suggestion), methodology (how do you get the horse to learn to accept the
procedure), knowledge of the whys and wherefores (how do you know if your horse
needs this or not), comparison of do-it-yourself vs
when-do-you-need-to-involve-the-vet, etc. are INDEED relevant, and even though
I'm pretty experienced at such things, I'm glad to see such discussions on an
endurance list. Saves me as a ride vet having to say the same things over
and over to individuals, if a whole bunch of folks learn it here first.
(And as I said, even with years of experience, I learned something new--the old
socks thing--that I can pass on to others.) What is offensive is not the
sheath cleaning--it is the overreaction of people who try to find crude humor in
it, and then the overreaction to the crude humor, and the vicious cycle goes on
and on. There isn't a thing wrong with humor per se, but for some reason
some folks get carried away when subjects that are even remotely related to
reproductive anatomy come up. So, THANK YOU to all who were able to
actually discuss SHEATH CLEANING in the context of common sense and how it is
relevant to keeping our male equine companions happy, healthy, and comfortable,
and thus better able to compete. For the rest of you, my delete key still
works just fine, but I hope you eventually come around to the point of being
able to realize that this is just one more humdrum chore in the ongoing task of
horse care, right up there with shoveling manure, cleaning feet, doing teeth,
giving vaccinations, deworming, and the whole host of other things we routinely
do to keep our equine buddies at their best.
Heidi
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