Rodney and I stand around. A lot. It goes as far back as standing untacked next to the barn in a leather halter [Here We Stand]. I don’t want to think about how many years ago that was. (2013 for those who don’t want to click over.) These days we are standing mounted. Progress. Slow, incremental, microscopic progress.
1) I do it because he has trouble with it. When Rodney began working on halts, he kept popping out of gear [Meanwhile December 2016]. He eventually got it [Rodney March 2017]. The first time we tried to stand by ourselves, we lasted 8 minutes [It Takes A Village May 2017]. We average 20 minutes now.
2) I do it because I am alone. On the weekends, we do more when we have a spectators to supervise/help/talk us down out of the trees. When I am riding on my own, I don’t push the envelope. This is the size of our envelope at the moment.
3) I do it because we need a reset button. When Rodney gets wound up – whether for reasons internal or external – we need a safe space. With Previous Horse, it was walking on a long rein. Or getting off, if he really lost it. For Rodney, for the moment, standing brings peace and counts as a success.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Virtual Brush Box 
You are sooooo patient! it seems to be paying off. Keep up the good work!
Not really. I feel like if I knew what I was doing, I’d have gotten somewhere by now.