- English translation
You who doctor everyone else's horses, your own horse is defective right at the root of its tail.
- Literal wording
O healer of people's horses, your stallion is faulty from its tailbone.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying mocks a person who shows off skill in solving other people's problems while ignoring an obvious flaw in their own affairs. The horse doctor who tends every neighbor's animal yet rides a mount whose defect at the root of its tail shows plainly in its gait captures that misplaced attention.
It also implies a lesson about priorities and credibility. Anyone claiming expertise should first put their own house in order, because an evident personal failing undermines the authority they claim when they advise or treat others.
- When it is used
Use as a pointed retort to someone eager to fix, advise, or criticize others while plainly neglecting a glaring problem of their own. It suits informal exchanges and carries a mocking, reproachful edge, so avoid it where a gentle tone is needed.
- Register
- Colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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