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

Over the years we've had two mares here, but down to only one now. Everytime I groomed each for saddling I checked to see if they needed a cleaning of their udders and between their teats. The need fluctuated from time to time.

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.

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.

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!!

My girl is totally clean... but she's only 8 1/2 months old so she may not stay that way. Luckily she lets me touch her in 'those' places so even if she doesn't stay as clean as she is, it shouldn't be a problem.

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.

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

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!

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.

Is there a good way to clean that off? She hates me touching her back there so I have to be quick about it.

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.
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