The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (519 page)

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stable

see
because a MAN is born in a stable that does not make him a horse
.

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It is too late to shut the STABLE-door after the horse has bolted

In early use the proverb referred to horse-stealing;
has bolted
is a modern substitution for the traditional is stolen. Cf. medieval Fr.
a tart ferme on l'estable
,
quant li chevaux est perduz
, the stable is shut too late, when the horse is lost.

c
1350
Douce MS
52 no. 22
When the hors is stole, steke [lock] the stabull-dore.
c
1490
in
Anglia
(1918) XLII. 204
Whan the stede ys stole, than shytte the stable-dorze.
1578
Euphues
I. 188
It is to late to shutte the stable doore when the steede is stolen: The Trojans repented to late when their towne was spoiled.
1719
Robinson Crusoe
II. 92
A dead Bush was cram'd in [the hedge] to stop them [the Spaniards] out for the present, but it was only shutting the Stable-door after the Stead was stolen.
1886
Kidnapped
xiv.
A guinea-piece .. fell .. into the sea … I now saw there must be a hole, and clapped my hand to the place … But this was to lock the stable door after the steed was stolen.
1940
Death of Peer
x.
The horse having apparently bolted, I shall be glad to assist at the ceremony of closing the stable-door.
1979–80
Verbatim
Winter 2
It is too late .. to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted.
1997
Evans Above
iii. 33
The Home Secretary is livid. Heads are going to roll, .. but it's too late to lock the stable when the horse has already bolted.