Meaning:
If someone is trying to convince people to do or feel something without any hope of succeeding, they're beating a dead horse. This is used when someone is trying to raise interest in an issue that no-one supports anymore; beating a dead horse will not make it do any more work.
"Flogging a dead horse", (alternatively "beating a dead horse") is an idiom that means a particular request or line of conversation is already foreclosed or otherwise resolved, and any attempt to continue it is futile.
Origin:
The first recorded use of the expression with its modern meaning is by British politician and orator John Bright, referring to the Reform Bill of 1867, which called for more democratic representation in Parliament, and about which Parliament was singularly apathetic. Trying to rouse Parliament from its apathy on the issue, he said in a speech, would be like trying to flog a dead horse to make it pull a load.
John Brighthttp://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/beating+a+dead+horse.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flogging_a_dead_horse
http://swittersb.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/dead-horse.jpg
http://domain1041943.sites.fasthosts.com/holyoake/images/j_bright_1.jpg
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