ride herd on meaning

(orig US)
1. To guard (a herd of cattle, etc) by riding on its perimeter
2. To control, keep watch on (figurative)

[American idiom]
to supervise someone or something. (Informal. Refers to a cowboy supervising cattle.)
• I'm tired of having to ride herd on my kids all the time.
• My job is to ride herd on this project and make sure everything is done right.

[American slang]
v. phr. 1. To patrol on horseback around a herd of animals to see that none of them wanders away. Two cowboys rode herd on the cattle being driven to market. 2. informal To watch closely and control; take care of. A special legislative assistant rides herd on the bills the president is anxious to have congress pass. Mary rode herd on the small children walking home from school to keep them from running into the street.

Examples

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1. Riding herd on Stupid Stuff is what dadship is all about.
2. But analysts also blame management for not riding herd on field operations.
3. But he uses needling humor to ride herd on lawyers.
4. The committee is also riding herd on local businesses.
5. Should we ride herd on public education to add workplace skills to the ABCs?