What does this mean?

"These things look like the cautious patting and petting of a spirited horse preparatory to mounting him when it is dreaded that may give the rider a fall."

In my opinion it's metaphorically speaking of failure. we all know that we may fail from time to time. therefore, we prepare ourselves for a possible failure. "the patting and petting of the spirited horse" refers to us preparing ourselves for failure and we are the "riders" of life that occasionally gives us "a fall