You know, when all you can say is, “I know. I KNOW!” Because someone has just listed yet another of your shortcomings?

Apparently, a couple of weeks ago (months ago?), I mentioned that most injuries supervene from overtraining. And there are no herbal supplements to prevent that. There is plain old horse sense. “If it hurts, stop” is sort of a tagline on OldFartsMartialArts.org. Yeah. So Cassia Taylor of Tavares, Florida is mincing my onions on facebook Messenger: “Horses don’t stop when something hurts,” says Ms. Taylor. “They will keep walking on a broken leg. If you really grew up on a farm, you would know that.” See why I don’t allow people to post comments?

Forgive me. We milked cows and raised hogs. We had a couple of horses. Our neighbors had horses. But none ever had broken a leg. So, I don’t see how living on a farm (or on three or four farms) would impart that little factoid. You learn it from movies. There’s always somebody bit by a damn rattler, and there’s always a horse being executed for the sin of a broken leg. The horse has to be shot because the leg won’t heal, but not because the horse is stupid. The problem is that three long, slender legs cannot support a body that is almost too big for four long, slender legs.

I didn’t mean a literal horse, anyway. Nor any individual horse in particular. I’ve never met a horse who was strikingly clever. But there is no denying that some individuals are more attentive, more front-pew-amen types than others. The term “horse sense” doesn’t even refer to a metaphorical horse, since horse metaphors tend toward concerns of swiftness, strength, or beauty. I guess, I always thought of “horse sense” as a human trait– a way of dealing with horses. You know, if your horse is lame, put her back in the stable and get a sound one.

There isn’t even a horse style kungfu (as far as I know). Watch. Somebody will come out and say, “You idiot. Horse style kungfu has been around since Confucius.” And, then, I’ll be all like, “Oh, yeah! I knew that!” But I’m pretty sure that the kungfu exercises generally invoke the tiger when portraying strength in the martial arts. And, in a regulation match, a tiger will manhandle almost any horse pretty good.

I meant “horse sense” in the John Wayne style. He’s about to catch the bad guys, and he decides to stop. Then the posse gets all pissy, “We can’t stop now!” But old Duke goes, “We gotta rest these horses.” First of all, he’s right. Second of all, it generates suspense and stretches the movie to the two-hour mark.

And you gotta rest, too. That’s what I meant by “horse sense.” Rest yourself like a good horse. Don’t train until you’re lame and your wife has to confine you to the stable. All you’ll do there is drink, probably. So, watch it. Use horse sense. If it hurts, STOP!