In "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink", why is the horse a male?
In the proverb "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink", why is the horse a male? Is there an origin/backstory, similarly to how boats are considered female?
Also, I think "...make him drink..." is the original, rather than "...make it drink...". Does anyone know if this, or the opposite, is correct?
Edit: I found from my research that Old English Homilies, written in 1175, might have been where the proverb came from (the exact reference was "Hwa is thet mei thet hors wettrien the him self nule drinken"). However, this doesn't seem to explain why the horse is referred to as "him" in the proverb.
Thanks!
In basic terms, A horse was a male and a mare was female.
From The Middle English Compendium:
Hors (n.) 1.(a) A horse [often presumably = (b)]; (b) an adult male horse; male ~.
c1400(?c1382) Wycl.Lincoln.(Bod 647)231 : As a horce unrubbed, þat haves a sore back, wynses when he is oght touched or rubbed on his rugge.
Although "mare" also meant "horse of any gender and type:
- A riding horse, a steed; also, any beast of burden; also, cattle, livestock, pastured domesticated animals;
Etymology OE mēares, mēare, etc. (infl. forms of mearh, *merh 'horse') & WS mȳ̆re, A *mēre 'mare'.
it was later used chiefly for the female horse:
"(c1300) Havelok (LdMisc 108)2504 : Þei garte bringe þe mere sone..And bunden him rith at hire tayl.
?a1425(c1400) Mandev.(1) (Tit C.16)167/21,29 : And men putten a mare besyde him with hire fole & an hors sadeled & brydeled..