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In horse racing circles tips on which horse is a likely winner circulate amongst punters. The most trusted authorities are considered to be those in closest touch with the recent form of the horse, i.e. stable lads, trainers etc. The notional 'from the horse's mouth' is supposed to indicate one step better than even that inner circle, i.e. the horse itself.

It is a 20th century phrase. The earliest printed version I can find of it is from the USA and clearly indicates the horseracing context - in the Syracuse Herald, May 1913:

"I got a tip yesterday, and if it wasn't straight from the horse's mouth it was jolly well the next thing to it."

This is not at all correct. In the past, a horses liniage was listed inside it's mouth. Tattoo'd if you will. Everybody tried to lie about a horses liniage, to get a better price. Once it became practice to put the info in the horses mouth, one couldn't get away with it anymore. So when asked about a horses liniage, one could say, " I got it from the horses mouth...". This is also the etomy of the phrase, " never look a gift(ed) horse in the mouth..." meant to mean, that you don't check the horses mouth for liniage, when someone gifts you a horse. This would be rude. Sorry, but the previous could not be more wrong.

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Q: What does the expression 'from the horse's mouth' mean?
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