Long lost horse relt. sayings - now gone with the wind?

[ILuvmyButtercups]

All us oldsters, decades in this horsey gig, do you wonder if the under 30 set would even know what most of these quips mean? I’m in my 6th decade, and remember the days when just about everyone used horse related expressions daily, like breathing air, even the non-horse folks.

• (My favorite) “Rode hard and put up wet”. Who remembers that gem?

• Hell bent for leather

• “For want of a nail, the (war/battle/kingdom) was lost”

• … 'til the cows come home

• S/he’s got good horse sense (street smarts)

• Closed the barn door after the horse escaped

• Putting the cart before the horse

• “Healthy as a horse” (Haaaaa???)

• Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth

• Watch for Bishoped teeth on that new purchase!

• “That nag can’t run a lick” - (do a 2 minute mile)

• “Now that’s a horse of a different color”

• Pulling leather - grab saddle horn

Anyone got any good ones to share? I just know there are a million more clever utterances I’ve forgotten. The times I do use some nowadays are often met with puzzled faces… what a shame. How I miss those days when just about everyone had a horse in their back yards, all kids rode everywhere bareback all over the place, horses were as popular and numerous as cats and dogs.

C’mon, dust off the cobwebs and add your fond recollections!! :winkgrin:

[Real_Rush]

Haven’t heard of the Bishoped teeth one, but there is the old saying “long in the tooth.”

[SmartAlex]

Hold your horses
Get of your high horse
Don’t swap horses in the middle of a river (well that one is sort of self-explanatory)
Straight from the horse’s mouth
Put out to Pasture
Enough to choke a horse
See a man about a horse
Barefoot and pregnant
Take a flying leap
Get your goat

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

The phrase I’ve heard for people, but which originated in horsedom, is
“(he or she) looks like (he or she) has been rode hard and put up wet.”

[D_BaldStockings]

Dash board
Mules in horse harness
Feeling one’s oats

[wireweiners]

Got her tail over the dash. Means the same as panties in a wad

[SuzieQNutter]

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

[ILuvmyButtercups]

Good ones! I forgot Horse Laugh, Horse play, Horse face to describe some homely dames. Hee, hee.

SmartAlex ~ I have a friend who always said that - had to see a man about a horse - when he needed to step into the bushes to take a wizz. I’d always ask, when he came back, if he was going to buy this thing? ;D

[cayuse]

“kicking over the traces” = raising hell
Uncle Joe kicked over the traces last night, went out drinking and wrecked himself.

[D_BaldStockings]

Car engine power used to be measured in horsepower,
now most is about torque and how many ccs or liters displaced.

[red_mares]

Goes (pees) like racehorse - reference to the post race whiz quiz.

I hear “rode hard & put away wet” fairly often.

Cayuse - I’ve seen them literally kick over the traces; it’s an exciting ride.

[clanter]

“Daddy, he will not eat much and I will take care of him” … seems to apply to horses and young men

[Fulmer]

My grandfather used the phrase “it’s a horse a piece,” which translated into “six of one, half a dozen of the other” - but I’ve never heard anyone else use the “horse a piece” saying! I always found it amusing, though.

[2DogsFarm]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

I.E.: You can point people in the right direction, give them all the help possible, but can’t do their thinking for them.

[PintoPony]

Fulmer, my family uses “It’s a horse a piece” all the time!

Other ones I haven’t seen mentioned:
“Rough as a cob”
“Beat them like a rented mule”

[hillary_again]

“R’aring to go”. I say this as a habit, and frequently have to explain it to younger people, and co-workers from other countries.

[PintoPony]

“Champing at the bit”

[demidq]

Did a costume class as a kid as ‘horsey proverbs’. Painted the pony pink and green, tied a larger ribbon bow around his tummy, harnessed him backwards to the cart so he was pushing it while I sat dressed in a party dress trying to look in his mouth with a large magnifying glass. “Don’t put the cart before the gift horse of another colour or look him in the mouth”. My sister did have to lead him but he was very co-operative, and we won the class.

[gingerbread]

a horse of a different color

[gingerbread]

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth!