Year of the Horse
The Horse is read as the free spirit of the zodiac: lively, independent and always on the move.
| Fixed element | Fire |
|---|---|
| Yin or yang | Yang |
| Best matches | Tiger, Dog |
| Clashes with | Rat |
| Current or next year | Fire Horse (this year) |
Horse personality
People born in a Horse year are said to be energetic, cheerful and quick to get going. They tend to love travel, new experiences and company, and they speak their mind. Their love of freedom can make them restless or quick to drop something once the excitement fades. At their best they bring momentum and warmth to everything they join.
The Horse in love
In love, the Horse is read as enthusiastic and affectionate, but it needs space as well as closeness. It may need to stay through the quieter phases of a relationship instead of looking for the next spark.
The Horse at work
At work, the Horse tends to do well in sales, travel, media, sport, events or roles with variety and movement. Desks and long meetings wear it down.
Room to grow
The growth edge for a Horse is follow-through. Finishing what it starts, even after the thrill has gone, turns its energy into results it can be proud of.
Horse compatibility
In the tradition, the Horse gets on best with the Tiger and the Dog, the other two animals of its group of three, and clashes with the Rat, the animal opposite it on the wheel. These are traditional pairings, not rules: any two people can make it work.
The Horse making decisions
A Horse decides on the move. It trusts its first read, sets off and adjusts as it goes, and it's often miles down the road before anyone else has finished talking. The tradition admires the speed and warns about the follow-through. A Horse does well to ask what it will think of this decision in a year, since it tends to lose interest once the race is over.
The Horse as a friend
As a friend, the Horse is cheerful, spontaneous and always up for it. It makes friends easily, tells a great story and gets everyone out of the house. It needs a lot of room and may vanish for a while without meaning anything by it. It's honest and rarely holds a grudge, and it's hard to stay annoyed at one for long.
The Horse with every other animal
The Tiger and the Dog are the Horse's allies, and each understands its need for a cause and some space. The Goat is its secret friend, and tends to bring a calm it enjoys coming home to. The Rat sits across the wheel, and its caution feels like a brake. The Ox is the pairing the tradition warns about.
| With the | Horse reads as |
|---|---|
| Rat | Clash |
| Ox | Harm |
| Tiger | Ally |
| Rabbit | No special tie |
| Dragon | No special tie |
| Snake | No special tie |
| Goat | Secret friend |
| Monkey | No special tie |
| Rooster | No special tie |
| Dog | Ally |
| Pig | No special tie |
The five kinds of Horse
Each kind of Horse returns every 60 years. Find your birth year:
- Wood Horse: 1954, 2014. A Wood Horse is read as friendly and curious, more cooperative than most and fond of learning as it goes.
- Fire Horse: 1966, 2026. A Fire Horse is the animal in its home element, and it's read as the most intense of all: brilliant, restless and impossible to ignore.
- Earth Horse: 1978, 2038. An Earth Horse is read as steadier and more practical, better at finishing things and slower to bolt when things get dull.
- Metal Horse: 1930, 1990. A Metal Horse is read as bold and independent, with strong opinions and a real dislike of taking orders.
- Water Horse: 1942, 2002. A Water Horse is read as adaptable and persuasive, the most sociable of the five and always on the way somewhere.
Are you really a Horse?
Since 1930, Horse years have started as early as January 21 and as late as February 17. Born before your Horse year's start in the table below? Then you are a Snake, the animal before it.
This is the Horse's own year, so Horses are turning 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72.
The Horse's hour and month
The Horse's hour runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and its month is the fifth month of the lunar year. Anyone born in that hour has the Horse as a second animal, read as how they behave in private.
What people get wrong about the Horse
The Horse is often taken as flaky or self-centred. The tradition reads a person who needs freedom the way others need security. A Horse who feels fenced in can seem careless, and the same person, given room, works harder and for longer than almost anyone. It isn't avoiding commitment so much as avoiding being held still.
Questions about the Horse
What is special about a Fire Horse year?
It comes once every 60 years and has a long reputation in East Asia for fierce independence. The Fire Horse year in the table on this page is the most recent one.
What is the Horse like in love?
Warm, quick to fall and hard to tie down. It tends to do best with a partner who has a full life of their own and doesn't track its movements.
What jobs suit a Horse?
Work with movement and people: travel, sales, media, sport, events or any job that changes from day to day. It tends to chafe at desks and long approval chains.
Years of the Horse
| Year | Element | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| 1930 | Metal | January 30, 1930 to February 16, 1931 |
| 1942 | Water | February 15, 1942 to February 4, 1943 |
| 1954 | Wood | February 3, 1954 to January 23, 1955 |
| 1966 | Fire | January 21, 1966 to February 8, 1967 |
| 1978 | Earth | February 7, 1978 to January 27, 1979 |
| 1990 | Metal | January 27, 1990 to February 14, 1991 |
| 2002 | Water | February 12, 2002 to January 31, 2003 |
| 2014 | Wood | January 31, 2014 to February 18, 2015 |
| 2026 | Fire | February 17, 2026 to February 5, 2027 |
| 2038 | Earth | February 4, 2038 to January 23, 2039 |
Find your animal from your date of birth