Thread by @jelenawoehr

There is a thing all horse people know about.

I won't inflict a picture on you, but imagine raw, oozing mounds of angry, weeping pink tissue growing from a wound that will not heal.

That's "proud flesh." And that's what I think of when I hear "Proud Boys."

It's called "proud flesh," I think, because it puffs out from a wound like a rooster puffing out his chest.

It's so ostentatiously pink that it almost seems like it's taunting you. Everyone who's battled it knows the feeling: "goddamnit, there's MORE today!?"

When proud flesh is present, a wound cannot heal, because skin cannot knit over it.

It's formally called "granulation tissue," and it usually happens on lower limbs where there's less soft tissue to prevent the movement of the limb tugging at the edges of a wound.

For the wound to heal, the proud flesh must be humbled.

It will bleed, but proud flesh has no nerves in it—removing it causes no pain.

Oftentimes it must be trimmed back (by a skilled veterinarian) many times before the wound will heal. Diligence and patience are the key.

I've belabored the metaphor enough, but that's what I'll always see when they're mentioned to me.

Just one big oozing, weeping lump of granulation tissue, full of hot red blood but no nerves with which to feel.

They must be excised for the wound to heal.