It is important to keep your gelding's sheath free of mucky smegma build up. Many geldings have smegma 'beans' in their sheaths which they are not able to voluntarily expel and as a result the beans just get larger and larger, distending the soft tissue around the urethra making them even more difficult to remove. This is a short clip of a bean being removed. The horse was very quiet and relaxed and had no issues with either locating the bean or having it removed. Most horses, however, object to this process and bean removal should be carried out by a vet. Do not compromise your safety if attempting to assess this area yourself. The bean in the photo at the end belonged to a young standard bred horse that was in training for jumping and dressage. At the trot up phase I noticed a mild hypermetria of his right hind. During static palpation I checked his sheath and castration scar for anything unusual. I was fairly sure he had a bean but it was not visible although I felt a hard lump in that region and he was objecting to me looking further. I referred him to his vet and this is what they extracted. He was immediately better and has been progressing well in his work ever since. Other signs that there could be beans are that the horse is never seen to relax the sheath, there may be a foul smelling odour, infection, abnormal urine flow pattern, to name a few - anything unusual is worth having thoroughly checked by your vet. If your horse is normally quiet and compliant in every way except having his sheath touched then that could also be a sign that he could be uncomfortable there. I have also known castration scars to be problematical, especially if they are cold or tight.