During the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huan of the Kingdom of Ch'i was at war with the Kingdom of Gu-ju. The king of Gu-ju ordered his supreme commander to pretend to surrender to Duke Huan. So the commander of the Gu-ju army, while pretending to let Duke Huan's troops catch up to him, actually led them into a great desert known as Han-hai. Right at that time, there was a strong wind which blew the sand and stones all around and made it impossible to distinguish which direction was which. Duke Huan's troops, unable to go anywhere, realized that they had been tricked. Just then, Guan Jung of Ch'i remembered that borses are always able to find their way home, no matter how far they have strayed. So at his suggestion, the army let a few of the old horses go, and then followed where they went. And as expected, the horses led the army out of Han-hai.
Today, a person who is very experienced at any given thing may be refered to as "the old horse who knows the way.
老马识途
春秋时代，有一次，管仲和隰朋跟随齐桓公出征孤竹国，春天去，冬天回，归途中迷失了道路。管仲说：“可以让老马发挥作用了。”于是让几匹老马在前面走，队伍跟在后面，终于找到了道路。走在山里，队伍找不到水喝。隰朋说：“蚂蚁冬天住在山南，夏天住在山北，只要顺着蚂蚁窝向下挖就会找到水源。”果然挖到了水。
象管仲这样能干、隰朋这样聪明的人，也知道要向老马和蚂蚁学习，可是今天有许多人，不知道自己知识浅薄，也不愿向别人学习，不是错得很厉害吗？
“老马识途”比喻有经验的人对事情比较熟悉。
