It never seems to work out this way…

Sadly.
If the horse does it wonderfully, the temptation to get greedy and ask for another “one more time” is strong. If the horse is a stinker about it, then he gets to do it 100 more times so you don’t end on a ‘bad’ note. 😉 It’s perhaps best to remove that whole “one more time” phrase from your repertoire.