So you may paw the ground, but unless you were wearing horseshoes, you wouldn't do so in the true sense of the word.

Ich kenne "mit den Hufen scharren" nur als umgangssprachlichen Ausdruck für ungeduldiges Warten, daher mein Übersetzungsvorschlag: "to kick one's heels".

Es gibt schon ein paar Forenbeiträge dazu. Die häufigste Übersetzung (die auch Anklang gefunden hat) war: chomping at the bit

Chomping at the bit suggests explosive eagerness.

Biting one's nails implies nervous anticipation. Maybe that's closer to the inquiry, though someone who uses "im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes" for an undisputedly metaphorical usage isn't writing or speaking very carefully.

Cooling one's heels is being made to wait impatiently.

Thx a lot - I think both 'kicking one's heels' and 'biting one's nails" would work for me. The person who used 'mit den Hufen scharren' described a situation when he had to wait for something (so he was impatient) and at the same time he was nervous because he didn't know whether it would all work out well for him.

It was spoken language; probably that's why he used "im wahrsten Sinn des Wortes" without actually meaning it ;)