Horse English Quiz 5: Idioms & Culture

1“Hold your horses!” means ___.

Said when someone is moving too fast: “Hold your horses – let’s think first.”▶ Hear it

2If you hear something “straight from the horse’s mouth”, you hear it ___.

Information from the original source.▶ Hear it

3“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” means ___.

From checking a horse’s age by its teeth – rude if it was a present!▶ Hear it

4A “dark horse” is someone who ___.

“She’s a dark horse – I didn’t know she could sing!”▶ Hear it

5To “put the cart before the horse” means to ___.

Like booking the wedding before you’ve met anyone.▶ Hear it

6“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink” means ___.

Often said about learning or advice.▶ Hear it

7If you “flog a dead horse”, you ___.

“Forget that idea – we’re flogging a dead horse.”▶ Hear it

8If you “get back on the horse”, you ___.

From the advice to ride again straight after a fall.▶ Hear it

9“I could eat a horse!” means ___.

An exaggeration – nobody actually wants to!▶ Hear it

10If someone is “on their high horse”, they ___.

“Get off your high horse – you make mistakes too.”▶ Hear it

11If children are “horsing around”, they are ___.

“Stop horsing around and get ready!”▶ Hear it

12Someone with a cold might have a ___ voice – it sounds exactly like horse.

Hoarse /hɔːs/ = rough and weak. In British English it’s a homophone of horse.▶ Hear it

13“Horsepower” is a unit that measures ___.

A car with 150 horsepower (hp).▶ Hear it

14A “one-horse town” is a town that is ___.

“Nothing ever happens here – it’s a one-horse town.”▶ Hear it

15“Horses for courses” means ___.

Different horses run best on different racecourses – and the same is true of people.▶ Hear it

16The classic novel Black Beauty (1877) was written by ___.

Anna Sewell wrote it to encourage kindness to horses.▶ Hear it

17Black Beauty is told from the point of view of ___.

It is written as the horse’s own autobiography.▶ Hear it

18The mounted soldiers of the King’s Life Guard can be seen in London at ___.

Horse Guards in Whitehall – a popular photo stop.▶ Hear it

19The ancient chalk figure on a hillside in Oxfordshire is the ___.

It is around 3,000 years old.▶ Hear it

20Michael Morpurgo’s story about a horse in the First World War, later a play and a film, is ___.

War Horse – the stage version uses life-size horse puppets.▶ Hear it

21Which is the most natural way to say it?

Go riding – like go swimming or go skiing.▶ Hear it

22“I’ve been riding ___ I was seven.”

Since + a point in time; for + a period (for 20 years).▶ Hear it

23Someone who rides horses is a ___.

A rider. A formal or sporting word is equestrian.▶ Hear it

24“I had a fall last week.” In riding, this means you ___.

Riders have a fall or come off.▶ Hear it

25In informal British English, a person who is very interested in horses can be called ___.

Horsey (also spelled horsy): “She’s from a very horsey family.”▶ Hear it