Crossword Genius

Look and act like a senior straddling horse (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

behold

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'look' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'act like a senior straddling horse' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'act' could be 'hold' (hold is a kind of act) and 'hold' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'be' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for behold that I've seen before include "Lo - look!" , "Lo, see here" , "Look to the poet" , "Archaic injunction to look" , "Look upon" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times and The Sunday Times.
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