The Year Of The Fire Horse Is A Time To Challenge Authority. What Else Is In Store For 2026? - Beritaja

Henry Chen, calved successful 1990, the Year of the Horse, ne'er took Chinese horoscopes excessively seriously. But group about him ever have.

When Chen’s begetter was a kid successful the countryside of Gansu, China, he was progressive successful an mishap wherever he was almost trampled by a horse-drawn cart. He could person easy been killed but, according to family lore, the horses spared his life. It was arsenic if they instinctively side-stepped his assemblage to support him safe.

Since then, Chen’s begetter has ever felt a belief relationship to horses, which only intensified erstwhile Henry, his oldest son, was calved successful the Year of the Horse.

Later arsenic a young adult, Chen worked arsenic an adjunct to an award-winning Hollywood head who not only loved horses but was an avid believer of the Chinese zodiac. Being a Horse endeared him to her, he believes, and arsenic an added benefit, his grandma (also a Horse) started giving her a personalized zodiac reference each caller year. The head felt that she could spot Chen’s activity ethic, arsenic Horses are known for being tireless and driven.

Now Chen admits that he does place pinch galore of the Horse traits. “I deliberation Horses thin to enactment first and complaint forward,” he says, “and woody pinch the consequences afterwards.”

Feb. 17 brings the Year of the Horse, seventh successful the 12-animal Chinese zodiac cycle. Horses were calved successful 2014, 2002, 1990, 1978, 1966, 1954 and truthful on.

According to superstition, a personification calved successful a peculiar twelvemonth takes connected the traits of that year’s animal. The twelvemonth itself besides takes connected the tone of the animal. Each twelvemonth is besides assigned 1 of 5 elements — metal, water, wood, occurrence and world — that rotate alongside the animal sign. Fire, which is this year’s element, tends to magnify the animal’s personality.

What traits do Horses have?

According to astrologer Laura Lau, co-author of “The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes,” the Horse characteristic is strong, assured and charismatic. Horses crave state and independence. They’re hard-working, action-oriented and instinctual, and they thin to study by doing. But if they spell down a way that isn’t working, they’re speedy to pivot. This makes them flexible, adaptable and forgiving. But they could besides beryllium challenging for group — particularly authority figures — who are trying to pin them down.

Michelle Yu, an on-air simulcast big astatine the Santa Anita Park title track, confirms that galore of the Zodiac Horse characteristics are akin to qualities of existent horses.

“They’re beguiling, societal and bold,” she says of the animals. And they’re intuitive. For example, horses that are difficult for adults to grip will often exude other kindness and attraction erstwhile about children, she says.

(Illustration by Vivienne Shao / For The Times)

They’re besides impulsive. “Anyone who’s worked pinch horses knows that 1 minute, a equine could beryllium happy, and the adjacent minute, they could threat and commencement breathing fire,” Yu says.

She explains that the only equine trait that mightiness diverge from the Zodiac is the request for independence. Horses are herd animals, and they for illustration being about each other.

But they do person minds of their own, she says. And they’re competitive, particularly erstwhile racing. “You could spot the horses look the different horses successful the eye” astatine the starting line, she said, “and they person the will to win.”

Crystal Castagnaro, besides a Horse, is the head of enrichment astatine Lunch Brunch, a culinary acquisition programme for K-12 students successful Southern California. Born and raised successful New York, she describes her Sicilian family arsenic very superstitious.

Castagnaro says she’s ever had an independent tone and remembers being assured moving crossed the state to unrecorded successful Los Angeles successful her mid-20s. She feels stifled erstwhile she can’t beryllium trusted to do things connected her own.

“I’m ever like, ‘This is what I’m going to do,’” she says. “I’m not going to ask. I don’t want group to get successful the measurement of my plans.”

What could you expect successful a Fire Horse year?

With the constituent of occurrence arsenic an intensifier, the Fire Horse is the daredevil and thrill-seeker of the lunar cycle. “It’s a clip for large alteration and large emotions,” Lau says.

“The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes” was first written successful 1979 by Lau’s precocious mother, Theodora Lau, a noted astrologist. Laura Lau has updated the guide, but she still sounds her mother’s aged notes. “My mother loved dissecting authorities done Chinese astrology,” she says.

The past Year of the Fire Horse twelvemonth was 1966. The Vietnam War was escalating. The civilian authorities activity was astatine a crossroads. The Black Panther Party was founded. And the twelvemonth marked the opening of the Cultural Revolution successful China.

If 1966 is immoderate blueprint, we could expect a breakdown of long-accepted hierarchies and systems of authority.

Jing Gao, creator of the celebrated Chinese chili condiment Fly By Jing, has garnered millions of views connected TikTok pinch her Year of the Horse explainers, wherever she discusses Lunar New Year feng shui and really each animal will beryllium affected by the twelvemonth of the Fire Horse.

In one of her videos, she points retired that this year’s Lunar New Year besides falls connected a star eclipse day, pinch Saturn and Neptune conjunct successful Aries a fewer days later. “This is ace aggravated energy,” she says, “and it’s going to people an important infinitesimal successful quality history.”

Having a babe woman successful the Year of the Horse has been historically feared. Lau notes that successful her mother’s writings backmost successful the 1960s — erstwhile East Asian societies were much blimpish — she had warned against having a woman during the Year of the Horse because she would beryllium difficult to control.

But complete clip arsenic societal norms changed, truthful did attitudes toward assertive female Horses. If a kid needs to make their ain mistakes successful bid to study from them, it could beryllium difficult for a genitor to watch, Lau said. But these qualities — strong, decisive, hard-working and intuitive — are each positive.

“Once a Horse learns really to focus, they could beryllium unthinkable leaders,” says Lau. “Those who person seen and knowledgeable the extremes could beryllium much persuasive.”

Ava Lee, a contented creator down the Eastern-medicine wellness and beauty marque ByAva, precocious learned she is expecting her first kid successful 2026. She didn’t scheme connected having a Fire Horse, but now that she’s pregnant, group are telling her to beryllium prepared for an highly progressive baby. “I deliberation I’m successful trouble,” she jokes.

But Lee was besides heartened to study from her acupuncturist that she, arsenic a Sheep, is 1 of the champion animals to genitor a Horse baby. A Sheep is nurturing, delicate and empathetic, and the Horse babe brings power and momentum into the Sheep parent’s world.

How will the Year of the Horse impact your relationships successful 2026?

According to superstition, each animal has its animal friends and its animal enemies. The animal friends will person a fortunate and productive year, while the animal enemies mightiness want to return caution.

This year’s Horse friends, who dress up a Triangle of Affinity connected the Zodiac circle, are the Tiger and Dog. These are high-spirited, action-oriented animals that besides clasp caller experiences, explains Lau.

The Horse enemies are the Rat and the Ox. These animals are large planners, she explains. “They’re much rigid and detail-oriented,” she says. “The Horse is like, ‘Let’s play it by ear,’ and that drives these different personalities crazy.”

(Illustration by Vivienne Shao / For The Times)

Also, according to superstition, a person’s ain animal twelvemonth is thought to beryllium a clip for guardedness. Believers will often return precautions, including wearing a red-string bracelet aliases reddish underwear passim the twelvemonth for protection.

But Lau wonders whether Horses will beryllium capable to debar conflict, owed to their inherent independent natures. “Horses thin to get on pinch each other,” she said. “They each spell successful their ain directions.”

However, the Horse twelvemonth is simply a notoriously challenging 1 for romance, says Lau. The charismatic and passionate Horse is the Casanova of the cycle, falling successful and retired of emotion quickly. “Some will find that thrilling,” Lau says. “Others, will beryllium like, ‘No, convey you.’”

The Horse has a batch of youthful energy. They’re not acrophobic to rebuild. “Horses flare up and dice down, flare up and dice down,” said Lau. “It’s for illustration being about 2 group who request to fight. Sometimes the foreboding quiet is exhausting, and you’d alternatively them conscionable outcry astatine each other.”

Should you effort to tame a hot-blooded Horse?

Historically, taming a equine meant “breaking it,” explains Junko Goda, a horseback archer who was Bae Doona’s stunt riding double successful Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon.” The horse’s hot-bloodedness was thing to overpower. But successful caller years, equine training has been reframed about equine psychology, pinch accent connected watching and guiding the horse, arsenic opposed to dominating it.

“What makes a equine enactment up? Fear, mostly,” said Hollywood equine stunt coordinator Ryan Sturz. “The fearfulness could travel from thing that’s happening successful the moment, which intends they’re not fresh for that moment. Training and vulnerability could hole that.

“Fear could besides travel from mediocre training aliases a bad anterior experience, and that sometimes can’t beryllium trained away,” he adds. “Sometimes the trauma is conscionable excessively big.”

The Fire Horse comes pinch a batch of momentum, which could propel stagnated dreams into action. Both Lau and Gao, while bracing for a tumultuous year, punctual america that 1966 was besides a breakthrough twelvemonth for euphony and creativity.

But the main situation of the Fire Horse twelvemonth is burnout. Gao refers to Daoist teachings that propose that occurrence is not flooded by greater fire. “What burns hottest consumes itself first,” she explains. “Water prevails not by force, but by cooling, surrounding and redirecting.”

Over the years, Chen, now a imaginative shaper for Mr. Beast Games, has learned a batch about Horse characteristics, including the much challenging ones. “We ne'er extremity moving and could prioritize reasoning about activity complete different areas successful life,” he says.

After getting a Zodiac reference from his mother for the upcoming year, he says he is focusing connected approaching profession decisions pinch a calm head. He’s moving connected honorable connection pinch his woman to debar misunderstandings. He’s been advised to debar unnecessary risk. And erstwhile his family tells him to deterioration a red-string bracelet for the entirety of the Horse year, he’ll deterioration it.

Even though Chen still doesn’t actively judge successful the Zodiac, he respects it.

“Because if I don’t, and thing happens, I’ll beryllium like, ‘Why didn’t I conscionable listen?’” he says.