Milton Wishes For A Time Machine

Me: You had trouble keeping your marbles on the table at the last show [Mid-South].
Milton: It was a very exciting place. I got very excited.
Me: This is the second time you have done well in the lead up and then gone to the show and lost your shit.
Milton: What can I say. I sensitive.
Me: We want you to feel more comfortable at shows.
Milton: That sounds good.
Me: We want you to feel more confident at shows.
Milton: That sounds good, too.
Me: Therefore, you are going to have to work a lot harder at home.
Milton: Wait, what?
Me: Our prep schedules have not worked for you.
Milton: Well, it certainly wasn’t MY fault.
Me: Therefore we will need to change what we do to get you ready.
Milton: …
Me: You know what they say. Don’t work until you get it right. Work until you can’t get it wrong.
Milton: I never say that.
Me: We want you to practice a movement, for example a canter transition, 100 times. Then when you get to a new place, you can worry about the new place, but you won’t have to worry about the movement.
Milton: 100 times? (Fans self with hoof.)
Me: We will also be presenting you with small challenges at home.
Milton: Challenges?
Me: Think of them as puzzles to solve. Once you will learn to face small challenges, um, puzzles, you will be better equipped to cope with a big challenge, er, puzzle.
Milton: So all of this new work is because of three bad canter transitions?
Me: Yup.
Milton: Hmm. Can I have a redo?
Rodney, breaking in: Excuse me, can I ask a question?
Me: Sure.
Rodney: Why am I working hard?
Me: New house rules.
Rodney: Milton screws up and suddenly I am long-lining four times a week?
Me: Basically, yes.
Rodney, turns to Milton: Dude, we need to talk.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott