What is the meaning of the idiom 'You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink'?

Answer 1

You can lead a horse to water is a saying that has two meanings. One, the primary use, is directed at "stupid people" who won't take common sense advise but the other is far more interesting to me and I thought it up myself and don't yet know if it is true but if water is fowled I think a horse would know not to drink it and perhaps a human would not. For the most part horses need a great deal of water compared to humans like gallons and they are usually bearing the brunt of the work carrying the person on their back so they would probably be thirstier than their companion. I would, however, assume that, knowing this, riders were more inclined to take care of their 4 legged companion than themselves if it came down to it given a limited supply circumstance until such point that survival mode clouded their better reasoning?

Another answer I read was that evidently horse s are so used to drinking from their troughs that they will refuse to drink from a stream or lake and die before trusting the source I find this hard to believe. My dog loves drinking from the local pond when we are out for a hike and somehow I actually think it's good for him cause it's more natural and probably contains lots of interesting flavors and minerals and microbes etc.

*****Another thought: You can give person information, but you can't make them THINK.