Horse Idioms: 21 Common English Expressions (2026 Year of the Fire Horse)

I have put together another great list of useful English idioms. 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse so today’s theme is Horse Idioms. After some research, I found many common expressions and compound nouns that use the word horse. 

1. Beat A Dead Horse
2. Don’t Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth
3. Don’t Shut The Barn Door After The Horses Get Out
4. Dark Horse
5. Get Something Straight From The Horse’s Mouth
6. Hold Your Horses
7. I Could Eat A Horse.
8. One Horse Race
9. One Horse Town
10. (Put) The Cart Before The Horse
11. Put The Horse Out To Pasture
12. Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag Me Away
13. You And The Horse You Rode In On
14. You Can Lead A Horse To Water, But You Can’t Make It Drink
15. Back In The Saddle
16. Saddled With something
17. Horseplay
18. Horsepower
19. Ponytail
20. Sawhorse
21. Warhorse

You’ll find definitions along with example sentences in conversations that will help you use these horse idioms naturally in your own English conversations. 2026 Update *Horse Idioms from China and Japan*

2026 Year of the Fire Horse

In the Chinese Zodiac cycle there are 12 animals that each represent a year. Did you know that there is also one of 5 elements combined with each animal? These elements give even more meaning and character to the year. The five elements of the Chinese Zodiac are: Wood (木), Fire (火), Earth (土), Metal (金), and Water (水).

This means that the Chinese zodiac cycle is 60 years, so each animal is paired with each element only one time every 60 years. 

2026 is the year of the Fire Horse (丙午年) in the Chinese Zodiac. The horse represents speed, spirit, and independence. The element fire represents strength, passion and change. Together they represent an energy that is unstoppable, brave, and being open to change and innovation. 

The ideas connected with the fire horse are success, intense energy, passion, and speed. The lucky colors associated with the Fire element are bright red, glowing orange, electric blue, and rich purple. All colors that attract attention and show passion.
The challenges for the Fire Horse are impatience and impulsiveness. Impulsiveness means acting too quickly without giving careful thought to what you are doing. The noun impulsiveness comes from adding the suffix -ness to the adjective impulsive.

Horse Idioms for 2026 (Year of the Fire Horse)

Beat A Dead Horse

To waste time doing something that has already been tried.

• I’ve asked my boss for a raise 4 times and he always says ‘NO.’  I want to ask him again this year but I feel like I’m beating a dead horse.
  (I feel like I am wasting my time asking for a raise.) 
• A: Do you think it’s worth sending my book to more publishers or am I just beating a dead horse?
  B: I think should keep trying, your book is really good. Don’t give up! 

Don’t Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth
You shouldn’t look for fault or focus on the negative points of a gift that was freely given to you. 

• A: My car’s engine is a bit loud and I don’t really like the color.
  B: You got the car for free from your brother and it works just fine. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, just be happy that you have your own car!
• People who look a gift horse in the mouth are often seen as spoiled or ungrateful. 

Don’t Shut The Barn Door After The Horses Get Out
This refers to a meaningless action that was done too late. 

• Your motorcycle is too old and rusty, I think it’s time to buy a new one. Putting brand new tires on that piece of junk is like shutting the barn door after the horses got out. 

Dark Horse
A dark horse is a competitor who comes out of nowhere and unexpectedly wins a contest or competition.

• Everyone thought that the mayor would be re-elected this term but a dark horse candidate swept in out of nowhere and stole the election.
• I think too many people underestimate Barry’s ability, I think he can be a real dark horse in this year’s tennis tournament. 

Get Something Straight From The Horse’s Mouth

To get information directly from the source, not told by someone else.

• I heard that Kyle will quit school but I don’t believe it, it’s not like him. I won’t believe it until I hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.
  (I won’t believe it until I hear it directly from Kyle.) 

Hold Your Horses
This idiom means wait or slow down. 

• Don’t worry kids, we’re leaving soon but you need to hold your horses until the car is packed. 

Learn some more common Idioms with Hold, Grasp, and Grab.

I Could Eat A Horse
This expression means I am very hungry.  I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse! A horse is quite a large animal so if you could eat a whole horse you must be starving. 

• Will dinner be ready soon? I skipped lunch today and now I could eat a horse!

*You can also say eats like a horse to show that someone eats a lot.

• Dave is coming over for dinner tonight so I hope you’re cooking a lot of food, that guy eats like a horse. 

One-Horse Race
A one-horse race is a contest where one competitor is so superior to everyone else that they are practically guaranteed to win. It’s like a race with only one horse, there’s no question about who will win because there’s only one contestant. 

• Our prime minister will be re-elected for sure this term. The competition is really terrible, it’s practically a 1 horse race. 

*We can also say 2 horse race if two of the competitors out of a
larger group of competitors are very strong favorites. 

• Five candidates are running for the prime minister but three of them don’t have a chance. it’s basically a 2 horse race. 

One Horse Town
A small place that is not significant or important. 

• As soon as I turn 18 I’m going to pack up my car and move out of this one-horse town. I can’t wait to move to the big city.

(Put) The Cart Before The Horse

To do something before you should have. Specifically when it is smart to wait.

• A: I heard the city has approved the construction of the new baseball stadium.
  B: Really? The pro team hasn’t even agreed to come to our city. I think they’re putting the cart before the horse.
  (The city has decided to build a stadium before the pro team has decided to come. It would be smarter to wait.) 

Put A Horse (someone/something) Out To Pasture
This is the equivalent of an older horse retiring from work, now it is free to spend time in the field (or pasture) 

• I’ve had this horse for many years and he has worked hard for me but he’s getting old now. I think it’s time to put him out to pasture. 

This idiom can be used if someone is being forced out of their job, they are being made to retire even if they don’t want to. 

• The company president will turn 65 this year and the board of directors decided to put him out to pasture. 

We can use this expression with machines or electronics that we stop using and replace with a newer model. 

• The tablet has done a good job for the past 3 years but I think it’s time to buy a new one. Time to put my old tablet computer out to pasture.

Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag Me Away
A person is very committed to doing something or staying somewhere.

• I was so excited to watch the movie on opening day that I didn’t mind waiting in line for two and a half hours. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away from the theater! 

This is a popular song from 1987 by a Canadian singer named Gino Vannelli called Wild Horses.

The song uses this expression to say wild horses couldn’t drag me away from you as a romantic gesture to his lover. He is saying (signing) that he is so committed to his girlfriend.

I included a video with lyrics so you can read-a-long as you listen. 

You And The Horse You Rode In On
These words can be added to another negative English expression to make it stronger. It’s a very powerful way to tell someone to leave.

• What don’t you get lost, you and the horse you rode in on.
  (I’m so angry I don’t just want you to leave but I want whatever brought you here to leave also.) 

You Can Lead A Horse To Water, But You Can’t Make It Drink
This means you can offer somebody something or present an opportunity but you can’t make them accept it if they don’t want to. 

• We can set up programs to help the unemployed find jobs but sadly, some people just don’t want to work. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. 

A collection of 25 commonly used English idioms with body parts.

Idioms with Saddle

*I have included an idiom and a phrasal verb that use the word saddle in this list. A saddle is a leather seat for a rider on a horse. I often hear and use these saddle expressions myself so I like to teach them to my students.

Back In The Saddle
Starting an activity again after some time away.

• “After not playing for 6 months due to injury, Richard suited up for tonight’s game. He’s fully healed and excited to get back in the saddle.”

Saddled With (something)
Saddled with is a phrasal verb that means to give somebody/yourself an unpleasant responsibility, task, debt, etc. SOURCE

• Making preparations for the company year-end party is a thankless job. Benjamin got saddled with it this year. 
• If you travel without proper health insurance you could be saddled with a large bill if an unexpected medical emergency happened. 

Learn 50 more Phrasal Verbs with, Examples, a Video + a FREE 42-page PDF!

Compound words with Horse

Horseplay
rough noisy play in which people push or hit each other for fun. SOURCE

• I need you kids to cut out the horseplay and behave yourselves before our dinner guests arrive. 
• My grandmother had one strict rule. Absolutely no horseplay in the house. If you’re going to be rough you need to take it outside. 

Horsepower
Horsepower is a unit for measuring the power of an engine

• The new Mustang Dark Horse was made for racing, with a 500-horsepower engine.
  *Horsepower is often written as hp.
• The car has a 500-hp engine.

Ponytail
A ponytail is a bunch of hair tied at the back of the head so that it hangs like a horse’s tail SOURCE

• When Anna came to work with her hair down I almost didn’t recognize her. She always has her hair in a ponytail.

Sawhorse
A sawhorse is the name given to triangular pieces of wood that balance another piece of wood on top so that it may be cut easily with a saw.

• My brother and I would play games in the garage on a table that we made from a piece of plywood resting on my dad’s sawhorses. 

Warhorse
A warhorse is an old soldier or politician who has a lot of experience

• If you have any questions you can ask Tim. He’s an old warhorse with lots of experience. He can probably answer most of your questions. 

Horse idioms from China 

Because this post is about horse idioms, and 2026 is the Year of the Horse in the Chinese Zodiac, I thought I should add some Chinese idioms to the post. Here are some of that were recommended to me by Google: 

You will find the horse character 馬 in all the expressions.

馬到成功 [Mǎ Dào Chéng Gōng] – Translation “Success at a gallop”
A gallop is: the fastest speed at which a horse can run, with a stage in which all four feet are off the ground together Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
Meaning – Success comes from being fearless and confident.
LINK

龍馬精神 [Lóng Mǎ Jīng Shén] – “Dragon-Horse Spirit”

Meaning – A strong spirit in old age.
Find more Dragon Idioms here: Dragon Idioms – 8 Common uses (Real example sentences)

一馬當先 [Yī Mǎ Dāng Xiān] – “One horse leads the way”
To take the lead, be a frontrunner, or show initiative.

汗馬功勞 [Hàn Mǎ Gōng Láo] – “Heroic contribution”
Refers to great achievements earned through hard work and effort. 

Horse idioms from Japan

I’ve been living in Japan since 2006 so I have a fairly good idea of the culture and one or two idioms. Here are some new ones for me that I found online that are related to horses.
*The Japanese adopted the Chinese writing system many years ago so you will notice the same character 馬 in these Japanese idioms. 

馬が合う (Uma ga au): Literally – “A horse matches“

Meaning: To get along well with someone, or to have good chemistry. This comes from the idea of a rider being well-matched with their horse.

馬の耳に念仏 (Uma no mimi ni nenbutsu) – “Reading Buddhist prayer into a horse’s ear“

Meaning: Preaching to the deaf; trying to persuade someone in vain as they will not listen or change their mind

This one is not really an idiom but it’s interesting for me. It’s a simple word made with the character horse.
馬鹿 (Baka): Written with the kanji for “horse” and “deer” (馬鹿).

Meaning: Foolish, stupid, or an idiot. 

Now the big question, why do a horse and a deer = idiot? There is more than one idea and it’s a bit complicated so I will leave a link to the English Wikipedia page for this word below:

Baka (Japanese word) – Wikipedia 

The fun thing I like to do with my English speaking friends in Japan is to call them a horse deer, and then laugh because we know what it means in Japanese! 

Thanks to https://www.wasshoimagazine.org/blog/curiosities-of-the-japanese-language for the idiom help!

Trojan horse story

Do you know the story of the Trojan Horse? 

Trojan Horse refers to a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks, during the Trojan War, to enter the city of Troy and win the war. SOURCE

During the long War between the Trojans and the Greeks, it is reported that the Greeks built a large wooden horse and left it in front of the gate of the city of Troy. The Greeks then left the city and “sailed away.” The people of Troy brought the wooden horse inside their walled city, not knowing that there were Greek soldiers waiting inside. 

As part of the Greek plan, the rest of the army sailed back to Troy during the night. The Greek soldiers hiding inside the wooden horse came out, opened the gates, and let the rest of the Greek soldiers inside. Once inside the walls of the city, the Greek army easily took the city and won the war. 

Trojan horse has come to mean any trick or strategy that causes an enemy to invite a foe into a secure area.

A movie was made about this event called Troy starring Brad Pitt and Eric Bana. (2004)
*I like this movie 🙂

Troy – Imdb

You can watch the Troy movie trailer below >>

The Trojan Horse is even the name of a kind of computer virus that hides inside one piece of software and then attacks your computer from the inside.

Idioms from the 12 Animals of the Chinese Zodiac

Are there any HORSE idioms in your native language? Please share them in the comments!