In contemporary times, this idiom means that one should not get his or her priorities wrong; don't literally put the cart before the horse because that does not make sense in the natural order of ...

If you’re not a member of the Massachusetts State Legislature, you’re in the wrong business. Where else could you get ...

My position is, and has always been, that we should never put the cart before the horse and that one should make sure that we first have in place an economically and financially viable project.