Take the bull by the horns

Deal with a daunting situation decisively by taking the matter head on. There seem to be two schools of thought about its origin. Some sources maintain it is an old Spanish saying first attested in England from the early 18th century. Others maintain the expression is a lot newer, from America, during the 19th century, from the sport of bulldogging, in which cattlemen would wrestle steers to the ground by their horns. A steer is a castrated bull and generally more docile than a bull with its tackle intact.