God Laughs

Okay, who told Milton?

What happens when you begin to consider the eventual possibility of maybe one day showing your horse [Schedule]? He takes a month off.

Remember when I said I can’t seem to manage things that come easily to others [Laugh or Cry]? Here we are again. Greg works Milton for 6 months; everything goes great. I have one good ride; Milton goes lame.

But seriously folks.

Greys get bumps. We knew this. Milton came with bumps. We knew this. One of the bumps would wax and wane, settling into a slightly larger size with every iteration. The time would come when we would have to deal with it. We knew this.

Now is that time.

Technically, Milton has three bumps: an internal one near his boy bits, a tiny one on his tail, and one on the inside of his right gaskin. All have been deemed harmless, until such time as the mass interferes with Milton’s activities of daily living. Our vet has been loath to do anything because the bumps would just come back.

The bump in question is the one on his leg. It has gotten big enough to cause a second look to be sure he is a gelding. Ungainy. Ugly. Stinky. But not a problem. Until recently.

The bump is still the same size and grossness as before. The leg that attaches the growth has swollen. Infection? The weight of the bump straining a muscle? We don’t know. Milton is on a week of antibiotics to address/rule out the former. Then, to the vet clinic for a trim. Then, two weeks to heal.

From a horse health point of view, winter is not a bad time for this. He can heal without worrying about heat and flies and sweat. There will be plenty of cold, rainy days when he would be standing around eating hay anyway.

From human convenience point of view, now is not a bad time either. We will sit out a lot of ugly weather. Despite my excitement, we are not missing anything major. No championships. No destination events. Barring complications (cross fingers, cross fingers), our plans get pushed forward a month. No biggie.

From a whiny, self-involved point of view, I feel as if the universe said, ‘Oh, hello there. You were experiencing a moment of optimism? Let me fix that.’

Man plans …

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott