smell the barn

To feel excitement or become rejuvenated, as one nears a destination or positive outcome. The phrase refers to the tendency of farm animals to become excited when they are about to return to the barn. It had been a long drive, but our moods improved once we realized we were just a few miles from the beach—just like cows smelling the barn. The team seemed to smell the barn following the fourth-quarter touchdown, starting to play with an intensity they hadn't shown for the entire game up to that point.