Re: horse metaphor

batdorf wrote:
Jerry Friedman wrote:

None of the ones you quoted except maybe the last are idioms that
originate in racing, which is what Julian asked for.

He did indeed. And was told to go and look in a dictionary, which I
thought a little crass and not particularly helpful.
I suggested that he might want "help in understanding what might be
confusing for someone who is not a native English speaker: the
idea/sense behind the saying."
And the examples I gave were merely an attempt to illustrate that
rather than a glossary of the turf.

"As the twig is bent, so grows the tree."

Good example.
Chinese? Korean?

You can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink. =
Treinta monjes y un abad no pueden hacer cagar a un asno contra su
voluntad.

Thirty monks, que no?

Quite right. My misreading is corrected (although I prefer the nuns,
don't you?)
However, ¿que no?...or even better, ¿no?

There's a "the" in the English version?

Possibly. Sometimes, even! Google gives 695 for "the" and 303,000 for
"a"...But does it really matter?
Certainly not to me, and I would bet that the OP wouldn't be too
bothered.

I agree with you in liking the
Spanish one, but does it mean the same thing?

I have never attempted to make a donkey shit against its will...nor
would I particularly want to, donkeys, I am sure, being quite capable
of deciding when they need to defecate! But I imagine that it could
be a daunting task! I think that the notion is preeeetty much the
same.
As the grass grows, the horse starves = A burro muerto, la cebada al
rabo.

I don't understand that in either language.

Perhaps a bit subtle, that one. A touch of the fiddler in Rome.
Perhaps I should have said "steed"...but, again, does it really
matter?
http://www.highbeam.com/ref/doc0.asp?DOCID=1O90:WhilethGRSSgrwsthstdstrvs&num=6&ctrlInfo=Round18%3AMode18c%3AREFSR%3AResult

The Spanish is self-evident, and as you appear to speak the language I
shan't bother to explain.
But very picturesque, don't you think?

A hungry horse makes a clean manger = A buena hambre no hay pan
duro.

Oh, come on. "Hunger is the best sauce."

Perhaps "maketh" would suit you better?

I'm sure the proverbs about the subject are legion.
But are you making a point here?

The word "mumpsimus" comes to mind...;-)

«El mal jinete le echa la culpa al caballo»

--
Frank ess

.

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