A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

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

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  с 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-dore. 1578 LYLY Euphues 1.188 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 DEFOE 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 R. L. STEVENSON 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 N. MARSH Death of Peer x. The horse having apparently bolted, I shall be glad to assist at the ceremony of closing the stable­door. 1979-80 Verbatim Winter 2 It is too late.. to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted. 1998 D. HARSTAD Eleven Days (1999) viii. 71 ‘Mike, maybe we should talk to Rothberg.. ‘ ‘Doesn’t do much good to close the barn door after the horse is out.’ ■ foresight and hindsight; futility; lateness
  

stalled see BETTER a dinner of herbs than a stalled ox where hate is.
stand see EMPTY sacks will never stand upright; if you don’t like the HEAT, get out of the kitchen; a HOUSE divided cannot stand; every TUB must stand on its own bottom; UNITED we stand, divided we fall.