I Don't Like Being a Mom

I've never been one to refer to myself as my animals' mother but that is exactly what I felt like yesterday.  My best friend has already had a fun time laughing at me over this, not that I can blame her.  First though, the day started out with my cousin and my aunt coming out to see the horses.  I went riding with my cousin and it was pretty fun.  It was a funny sight, she's six feet tall and Jimmy is only 14.3hh.  He can carry her weight no problem, she's stick thin after all, but she is way too tall for him.  Once they left my mother got on Jimmy and we rode for a while in the indoor arena with Artemis running around free.   About halfway through the ride another girl came and she stopped at the gate to ask if she could come in.  I immediatly went to dismount so I could catch Artemis and pony her (or drag her) while the other girl rode, but the girl interrupted and said that her horse is fine with foals.  So my mom jumped on that and told me to leave Artemis free so she could get used to another horse. 

Right away Artemis was interested in the other horse, Sue.  Socks was very watchful, she always slows down and holds an ear in the direction of whatever she's not pleased about when she's nervous.  Artemis followed behind Sue as her owner led her to the mounting block.  Socks was getting all tense underneath me so I let her go over to her daughter and herd Artemis over to us.  That worked for about 30 seconds.  Once Sue's rider was on, Artemis trotted back over to them, doing that chewing motion that basically says "I'm a baby, please don't hurt me."  Sue walked over to her cautiously and sniffed noses.  By this point I was ready to jump off of Socks, run over to Artemis and carry her away from Sue and any potential danger.  But the idea of lifting Artemis was exhausting and so I had to leave it at watching and trying not to pull my hair out with worry.   Nothing happened.  They smelled noses and then Artemis came running over to hide behind her mother.  She stayed very close to her mother and every now and then she'd run over to Sue, then lose her confidence and come racing over to her mother again.  Everything went as well as it could have, but soon I couldn't take the stress and we stopped riding.  I know, ridiculous, but I couldn't help it.  Sue is at least 16.hh, and Artemis looks so tiny next to her!  All I could think about was the, what if's. 

We ended up putting them out on the grass for a while.  Not too long though, there isn't any shade in those pens and it's been pretty hot here for a while, too hot to do anything outside.  It reached 35 degrees yesterday apparently.  Thank God for an air conditioned indoor arena. 

And on one last note, I measured Artemis again yesterday and she came in at 12.2hh.  She grew an inch in a week.  And being the crazy, overprotective mother I am, I was ridiculously excited about it.