26/08/2025
☆ Shealth cleaning and bean removal ☆
How important is it?
Something that no one really likes to talk about. However, it is a vital part of equine hygiene and health.
Here is a very interesting article on the subject sent to me last night from a long-standing client and friend.
And it's a timely reminder to all gelding owners ( and some mares). Yes, they can get them, too. To ensure you do a thorough examination of your gelding's shealth and manhood to see if they have a bean present. It is very important to check your horse's private bits twice a year and to ensure their shealth is clean of sm**ma and that any bean of any size it removed.
While I am happy to assist owners if the opportunity presents itself.
You may find that if your horse is sensitive in that area or shy, it will require sedation and veterinary examination.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CD4dZT9xa/?mibextid=wwXIfr
This horse was on the brink of death.
Sounds dramatic, we know, but this horse was about to be PTS due to his many issues. He wasn’t urinating well, he wasn’t drinking much at all, he was retired because he was too naughty to ride, he was grumpy, he was just miserable. Bloods were done, scans, all types of therapies, but nothing flagged up.
What makes this all the more frustrating is the owner knew something was wrong, she demanded her vet check for a bean and he very unwillingly obliged, after lots of swearing at the client from the vet may I add. After a very quick touch of the sheath they said nothing was there, and yet the bean below was removed a month after the vet had ‘checked’.
So, owner still unsure, they called out a sheath cleaning company - not us. They found the bean but the horse wouldn’t let them remove it.
This was a success though because now the owner knew she was on the right track. So we were called out.
Third times the charm and this whopper was removed quickly and every single issue the horse was having seemed to disappear overnight.
What we pride our selves on at BESC, is the ability to read a horse. Kindness is always key and patience can be, to an extent. But horses are intelligent creatures with their own personalities and whilst some need to understand what’s happening , others need that bean out ASAP before they have time to react. It also depends what side of the bed that horse woke up on that morning, sometimes whatever personality you get that day from the horse is just luck of the draw. I know many of you know this!
Does this mean vets are bad? Of course not, most vets are wonderful, loads of vets are aware of beans and recommend us but if your vet makes you feel stupid for getting a sheath cleaner out, that’s their problem, not yours and your horses. Don’t let your horse suffer because of the arrogance of someone who wants to deny the existence of beans.
Well done to the owner for persevering, she saved her horses life 🤍
