The proposition of the unnecessary preposition

What’s wrong with the following sentence? “He had all of the horses in the barn.” If you said nothing, you’re could arguably defend your position. But the sentence is not as good as it should be. Try this one instead: “He had all the horses in the barn.” See? The preposition “of” is totally unnecessary, although to many people it feels more comfortable to leave it in as a transition between “all” and “the horses.” My policy as an editor is to take out unnecessary prepositions. Tightening up your copy makes it easier to read and understand, and getting rid of unnecessary words is the quickest and best way to do that. You won’t find a better proposition than that!