Beggars mounted run their horse to death.

The line is a proverbial observation used in Shakespeare to express the idea that people who suddenly gain power or resources often misuse them through inexperience or excess. It appears in the history play *Henry IV, Part 2*, spoken amid the play’s broader concern with political authority, social mobility, and the behavior of those who rise quickly in rank. Shakespeare draws on a familiar moralizing commonplace—contrasting the restraint expected of the well-bred with the recklessness stereotypically attributed to the newly elevated—to comment on how abrupt advancement can lead to waste and self-destruction.

“Beggars mounted run their horse to death” means that those who have long lacked status or means may, once elevated, overindulge or overexercise their new advantages until they ruin them. The “horse” stands for the instrument of power—wealth, office, authority, or opportunity—while “mounted” signals sudden promotion. The proverb warns that restraint and stewardship matter as much as acquisition: without self-knowledge and moderation, newfound success becomes self-defeating. In Shakespearean terms, it also comments on social mobility and political upheaval, suggesting that rapid reversals can produce reckless rulers as readily as they produce liberation.