The Art of Quitting While You're Ahead

If you ride horses, you have encountered the perils of  "One More Time."

If you ride ponies, you are far more familiar than you would ever like to be with the horrible things that happen anytime anyone says "One More Time." Ponies are devious that way. They like to ruin your day.

The scene is familiar... you're hacking around, or in a lesson, or a training session, and things are going GREAT. You've finally nailed that sticky transition, mastered that horrifying grid with the huge scary oxer at the end, or gotten your position absolutely solid on a really bouncy horse. Your pony is moving like a grand prix dressage horse and behaving better than he has in his entire life. Things are going SO well you say to yourself, "Let's just do it one more time to really get it down. Then we'll quit."

It is at that moment when Pandora's box is opened and all hell breaks loose. Your perfectly behaved pony will suddenly decide he is soooo over it, fling up his head, and proceed to ignore everything you ask of him. He will balk at the jumps, your perfectly positioned legs will somehow end up in five different places at the same time, you will forget the difference between "inside" and "outside," your pony will start bucking, and your pants will probably rip up the back just as five more people come out to the ring just in time to see your Hello Kitty underwear. You will then have to school your (bad!) pony for an extra half hour just to get him to give you a fraction of the awesomeness that all too soon slipped out of your grasp, while everyone else laughs at your undies.

The moral of the story is: Quit While You're Ahead. End on a good note. It will save you time, frustration, and dignity.

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