on the hoof

The literal sense concerning livestock has no more to it as a sum of parts than the corresponding sense of on foot does. A reference to humans being on the hoof occurs in a text from England in 1691.

• "Barely 10% of the country's corn crop ever goes into commercial channels to become breakfast cereal, corn starch or oil. Less than 25% ever leaves the farm where it was grown - until it leaves on the hoof."
• "In 1920, votes at the Republican National Convention were selling at $2,500 on the hoof."
• "It seems to me that the university degrees as I see them on the hoof in Calgary at any rate serve to widen the gulf between the people who need help and the people who are there to help."
• "An essential weakness of these results, of course, is that it is not possible to conclude very much about the importance of these various routes like 'a new person joining the firm' (also referred to as technology transfer 'on the hoof')"
• "Stray German cavalry horses are pastured along with many cows in the lush grassland around our tents, and fresh milk is delivered to our doorsteps on the hoof. As a matter of fact, the cows are so numerous we often have to drive them away."
• "Most of the steamers are being "sold on the hoof" to the larger scrap dealers."
• "Upon the breaking out of the Rebellion in that Country in 1641, the Mother fled with our Author and another Child towards England, and landing at Leverpoole in Lancashire, they all beated it on the hoof thence to London,[…]"
• "Look at this crowd! Bound to be a lot of pussy on the hoof in a crowd like this."
• "Relaxation, I may say, included long, very hot walks up to the lower slopes of the Tunari, the mountain that dominates the verdant valley of Cochabamba, during which the hyperactive president held discussions on the hoof with local authorities."
• "Near-synonym: extempore"
• "But billets need not be a great issue, and it is possible that, apart from the first and last nights, choice can be made 'on the hoof'. When on the road, consultation with the map and the clock will indicate when to start looking."
• "To make such an expensive commitment without properly thinking about how best to help travellers on low incomes shows that the policy was developed on the hoof."
• "Stunned NHS [National Health Service] bosses have described the brutal scrapping of so many managers as “vandalism”. They have claimed it will strip back ICBs [integrated care boards] so much that they will not be able to properly discharge their duties to commission key services and oversee the quality of NHS care in their areas. “This smacks of reckless policymaking, done on the hoof to please the Treasury rather than considering what is best for patients who have been without the care they deserve for so long,” said [Helen] Morgan."