The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

How often is normal to clean mare's genitals? I think something is wrong with my mare

27K views 22 replies 20 participants last post by  jody111 
#1 ·
How often do you do it?
I have to clean her every second day. Sometimes everyday. It's worse in the summer, when it's really hot.

There is smegma on her udders + her anus and vulva are always dirty, but not only with smegma, I don't really know how to describe it.

She's healthy otherwise...

It seems abnormal to me, but I never really paid attention to other mares, I only know that my friend's mare never looks that dirty as my mare the second day and they never clean her, except for splashing water at her when they shower her once or twice in the summer.

Do you think I should worry about it?
 
#4 ·
We have three mares. Two get cleaned every month and the third never gets dirty, at least with the udders. Their rears are about the same except the one with the dirtiest udders has the cleanest rear.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#5 ·
I personally would love to have a gentle mare they are beautiful horses I'm pretty sure if she gets down on the ground and rolls side to side on the ground then thats where the dirt is coming from or she could have got it from the stall and that totally normal I know shes probably hard to clean its perfectly normal to clean her as often as you like except when she is in heat if the dirt doesnt come off call the vet the have the special instruments to treat horses Hope this helps
 
#6 ·
One of my mare's get's pretty dirty / tar like stuff between her udder's a LOT, and I wash her about every 3 days...wet it, shampoo it, let it set for a few minute's and then it come's right off...If does often happen a lot between her rear leg's..but, living in AZ, with very high temps and the horse's rolling..and sweating, it's almost impossible to keep her clean...once it hit's 85 or lower in degree, not a problem..sweat built up crud.
 
#8 ·
A mare I use to have to bath when I worked as a groom was downright nasty...didnt matter how often you washed. Could have done it twice a day and she would still be yucky.

My mare on the other hand never gets cleaned and she is...well...shes clean lol never gets dirty lady parts lol

All mares are different...its just like geldings with sheath cleaning. Some get funky some dont. If your really worried though call the vet to be safe. But if your confident in her health then your probably fine.
 
#12 ·
Crud between her utters is not something I would worry about one way or the other (it being a problem). It can be there for so many reasons.

A crud problem around her vulva on the other hand would have me worried.
 
#19 ·
Hmm, my mare has crud around her anus and vulva. :-( Its not bad, just little bits here and there, kinda of like sometimes she poops and it rolled down her lady parts instead of being projected out and away from the body. :oops:

Is there a good way to clean that off? She hates me touching her back there so I have to be quick about it.
 
#13 ·
It's possible your mare has a tipped vulva. The biggest concern is fecal matter and thus bacteria heading in towards the uterus instead of all falling onto the ground.

This can result in vaginal infections. In some mares the best protection is a caslick procedure. You can typically see (and smell) the drainage if the mare does have an infection.

If it's just manure, your mare perhaps doesn't have a strong anal tone to push the manure, she merely 'drops' it. How dirty is her tail?

As far as her udder, it's a combination of dirt, sweat and natural body oils.

 
#14 ·
Mine gets cleaned once a week usually, but sometimes more often if she's been sweating in the heat a lot or working a lot and there's dirt and stuff caked up there. She's had 2 foals so her udders are kinda droopy ;-) So stuff tends to get stuck in between them pretty easily and frequently. But I just try to get in there once a week or so and get rid of the stuff, she loves it so that makes it easier, some of them HATE when you touch them there!!
 
#16 ·
I clean my mare's bum every day with a baby wipe. It's not so much that she gets any more gross then my geldings (they get cleaned daily as well), but I have found that keeping it squeaky clean in there virtually stops tail rubbing. And yes, I have had completely negative fecal counts on all my horses for years. Her udders I clean maybe once a month.

The advice mls gave is very good, so I would watch out for any of that as well.
 
#17 ·
Thanks everyone :)

I don't think that she has tipped vulva, I googled it and it doesn't look like she has it.
I have her for 3 years and there was never an infection.
She also doesn't have dirty tail, but she does rub it if I don't clean her often enough.
She had 2 foals 9 years ago, so I think vet should had seen if she had tipped vulva back then. I'll ask mine when he comes around next time, though.

Thanks god, she doesn't mind me cleaning her :) Sometimes she actually enjoys it :P
 
#18 ·
LOL, we refer to them as Messy Mares, and just as dirty as they get, I bet their stalls are also the messiest. I don't know why some mares get so dirty but it just seems that they do. And they are the ones whose stalls we hate to clean the most. I'd just clean her good with soap and water once or twice a month and the rest of the time, just a wipe with a wet cloth on her udders. If you're talking about her back legs, it's probably because she's urinating on a hard surface and it's splashing back up on them and if she's in heat (some mares seem to never go out) she's also urinating down her back legs. They can get pretty awful. Just keep washing them, it won't hurt anything. And wash her tail real good too, that gets wet and yucky and hits her legs and private parts.

I'll take a nice neat stallion ANY day!
 
#20 ·
QHDragon - I would start by scratching her next to her tail. She may clench her tail at first not being used to it. She will start relaxing because it feels good. When she relaxes, slowly move down her butt still scratching. This should help getting her used to being touched back there.

As for cleaning her, you can try a soft brush. We use baby wipes on our mares. I think they like getting cleaned.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top