When you think that horses have been used domestically for more than 5,000 years it’s no wonder we have so many sayings or idioms that have been passed down through the ages. I would love to know who the first person was to tell someone, ‘to get off their high horse’ when they were annoyed with someone.
The next thing that popped into my head was one of the many horse idioms that are a part of many people’s day to day lives. And interestingly people don’t have to be horsey to know these sayings.

The first saying I thought of was, ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.’
It always makes me smile so I began to jot down others that I know.

Here are some I could think of …

There’s a saying when you’re impatient, ‘Hold your horses.’

Then one for truth, ‘Straight from the horse’s mouth.’

One I know about, but have never said is ‘Horsefeathers,’ for nonsense.

What about pride, ‘Get off your high horse.’

Or hindsight, ‘It’s easy to remember to close the gate after the horse has bolted.’ I might add there are variations on this, could be a stable door or slightly different wording.

There is also ‘It looks like you’ve put the cart before the horse,’ regarding not thinking about what you’re doing.
And a couple more we all know, ‘Long in the tooth’. Did you know a horse’s front teeth get longer with age.

And another we all know ‘Never look a gift horse in the mouth.’ I suppose in the old days it would be most ungrateful to check how old a gift horse is by checking its teeth.

All our horses seem to have different personalities and most exhibit true horse sense. My grandfather used to say about some friends of mine, ‘they may have gone to university, but they haven’t got any ‘horse sense’.

Maybe as horse lovers we should all ‘take a leaf from their book’. One of the strongest traits a horse possesses is a herd instinct, safety in numbers. Horses also seem to prefer being with each other rather than alone. Behavior is contagious, as is enthusiasm. Could the herding instinct be used as an example for our own behaviour towards one another.

If you can think about any more sayings you must let me know.

Top drawing Willa Frayser ‘At the Waterhole’  / Lower painting ‘Ladies in waiting’ www.willafrayserstudio.com