Most of them are still in use, or at least, people are aware of what they mean.
As Peachey said - it is REALLY important to spell idioms correctly - otherwise you will completely confuse people, or write something completely different. Despite what you say, I am sure they were _not_ written in the book the way you wrote them, unless the book was a very bad copy, or written by a non-English native speaker. FYI: hatcher=hatchet, swell=smell, cause=canoe
-To ride the big horse- and -To draw the long bow- are two that I do not know and would not use. They are however obvious enough that I think that I know what they mean.