What Is A Horse Sheath?

Horses are big animals, and they can get very dirty in a lot of places.

One of the most important parts of horse care is making sure your horse has a regular cleaning regimen, and that no area is left untouched.

Lack of hygiene can lead to many long-term problems which only get harder to treat as time goes on.

The other day a friend asked me about their horse’s sheath, as they’d heard someone talking about it.

Sheath hygiene is really important, too, so I decided to put together my research and experience.

So, what is a horse sheath?

A horse’s sheath is the fold of skin that covers the penis of male horses. Like a foreskin in most mammals, it covers the head and indeed the shaft of the penis as well as the inner folds of skin. Contrary to popular belief, cleaning here is rarely necessary.

A horse’s sheath is really just the name for the skin around its penis.

The only reason most horse owners really need to be aware of this is that some people advise that you should clean the horse’s sheath once or twice a year.

We will look at if that’s really true here.

What is the purpose of the sheath on a horse?

The purpose of a horse’s sheath is very simple.

It’s just a protective layer of skin around the penis.

When retracted, the penis is protected by a very loose, double fold of skin called a prepuce.

The outside of this is known as the sheath.

If sexually excited or just needing to urinate, the horse will ‘let down’ its penis through the protective sheath.

Other than this, the penis will stay inside the sheath at all times.

The inner shaft is obviously very sensitive, whereas the sheath is about as thick as the rest of the horse’s skin.

Protection, in the simplest sense, is the purpose of a horse’s sheath.

On the inside of the sheath, a layer of healthy bacteria is built up, which helps keep the horse’s genitals healthy and functioning properly.

So, the question people often ask is whether or not cleaning needs to be done there.

Do you have to clean a horse’s sheath?

Received wisdom over the years has long suggested that it’s necessary to clean your horse’s sheath once or twice a year so that the build up of smegma doesn’t lead to health complications.

Well meaning horse owners have come to believe that this accumulation on the penis is dirty, unhygienic, or unhealthy for the horse.

It’s natural to think this, especially if you’ve been informed of it by other, experienced horse owners, but the truth is a bit more complicated.

Male humans and horses have different hygienic needs.

In the case of sheath hygiene, you’re really better off just leaving your horse to be a horse.

The substance you see on the shaft of a horse’s penis when it extends out of its sheath is called smegma, and is a natural lubricant.

When you aggressively clean your horse’s sheath, these natural lubricants are stripped away, and the horse’s ability to continue producing it is lessened.

The lubricant has a few purposes; the natural one you might think of first is mating, but it will also need it for urinating.

You can do full, regular check ups on your horse’s health, and on its penis and sheath.

You don’t need to clean it. Just ensure it looks healthy and normal, and you’ll have no problem.

Cleaning, especially overcleaning, can be very bad for your horse and is certainly much worse than simply leaving it be.

So, what about wild horses?

Do they have problems with their sheaths, since they have no one to clean them?

How do wild horses clean their sheath?

It might not surprise you to learn that horses in the wild make no effort to clean their own sheaths, nor do they have any problems from doing so.

In the wild, horses in actual fact do very little self-grooming.

Their bodies do most of the work for them, especially sensitive areas like genitals.

A wild horse does not need to clean its sheath, so, naturally, neither do domestic horses.

Looking at the way wild horses behave is always a good way to determine how to care for your own horses.

Of course, as I said, the one important difference is the health checks that you’re able to do.

Making sure to look for any signs of disease or illness is the important luxury that wild horses wouldn’t get.

So, despite what you might be told, cleaning your horse’s sheath may actually be doing more harm than good.

Just like us, they have natural protective oils and bacteria that prevent infection, and scrubbing them with soap can scrub it all away.

You should always check and monitor your horse’s hygiene, but there’s really no good reason to clean it.