ABSTRACT
Idle Many horses have a tendency to idle in front: that is, once they get to the head of the field they slow down, thinking they have done enough. There are two good reasons for this. Horses are pack animals and do not naturally enjoy detaching themselves from the herd; and recognition of the winning-post is not part of a horse’s training. This use of idle as a verb is uncommon before the twentieth century, and it may well be that the motoring sense – ‘of an engine: to run while disconnected from a load or out of gear’ – has influenced the racing usage. ‘He would have won more easily except for his tendency to idle in front’ (Sporting Life 5 September 1990).
