<P> The expression cart before the horse is an idiom or proverb used to suggest something is done contrary to a conventional or culturally expected order or relationship . A cart is a vehicle which is ordinarily pulled by a horse, so to put the cart before the horse is an analogy for doing things in the wrong order . The figure of speech means doing things the wrong way round or with the wrong emphasis . The idiom is about confusing cause and effect . </P> <P> The meaning of the phrase is based on the common knowledge that a horse usually pulls a cart, despite rare examples of vehicles pushed by horses in 19th - century Germany and early 20th - century France . </P>

When do you put the cart before the horse