Hitch in My Giddy-up

Episode #817

September 28, 2024

Have you ever had a hitch in your giddy-up?
I have them all the time.

The other day my wife’s sisters were organizing a surprise trip for her birthday. They kept calling and asking mysterious questions about her calendar obligations.

I said, “Is there a hitch in their giddy-up?”
Paula said, “What?”
“Is there some snag in their planning?”
“I’m not sure, but WHAT did you ask me?” She had never heard the phrase.
“If something is not quite right with a process there is a “hitch in its giddy-up.”

The phrase comes from the American cowboy old west. A driver of a team of horses would yell, “Giddy-up!” to get the horses moving. Often there was a jerk on the harness (AKA hitch) which connects the horses to the wagon.

This complex arrangement of bridles, collars, hames, traces, and reins would bind or tangle. The word hitch has prevailed as a piece of hardware for pulling a trailer (a trailer hitch).

Therefore, “A hitch in your giddy-up” means that something is hindering the thing you want to move forward. Thus, you also hear the phrase said, “A hitch in your get-along.”

In modern America (if you hear the phrase at all) “A hitch in your giddy-up” means you are physically unwell and it is literally difficult to “get up” out of bed and start moving.

“A hitch in its giddy-up” is not found in famous quotes, but we can imagine if it were:

Steve Jobs:
Original: “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
Modified: “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who push through when there’s a hitch in their giddy-up to do it.”

Winston Churchill:
Original: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”
Modified: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue even when there’s a hitch in your giddy-up that counts.”

My car has a hitch in its giddy-up. It no longer brakes as well.

Ever since the update my computer has a hitch in its giddy-up. It boots really slow.

When Billy quit the company we developed a hitch in our giddy-up. Deadlines have been slipping.

Every project has a hitch in its giddy-up. No matter how well planned I have never had a project complete without one “hitch” or another. Cutting wood on the wrong side of the blade is more common than I would like. Skipping a step causes me to backtrack and replan. I wish I had a two penny nail for every one I have bent (that is 2 cents per inch of nail).

Little errors are just part of the process. The reason that every project requires a minimum of four trips to the hardware store is that my shopping list has hitches in its giddy-up.

We learn from the hitches. They make our giddy-up better in the long run.

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