(straight) from the horse's mouth

Posted by Mom on December 17, 2002

In Reply to: (straight) from the horse's mouth posted by R. Berg on December 17, 2002

: : Hi,
: : Could you please tell me the origin of this phrase? Why is horse related to "reliable source of information"? Thanks a lot.

: From racing. A talking horse would be an excellent source of information for someone placing a bet on a horse race.

I have heard that it is related to the ability to tell a horse's age from it's teeth. It seems that some horse dealers would actually lie about how old their merchandise was, so the buyers would check the horse's teeth to determine their true age. Thus, the truth came "straight from the horses mouth".