By Kate Ritchie
马到成功 (mǎdào chénggōng) achieve immediate victory; win instant success
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”–Nelson Mandela (a horse)
Prepare for a thrilling ride starting on 17 February 2026. The Year of the Fire Horse is viewed as a year of high energy, rapid movement and bold shifts in the world. Be prepared to grab hold and hang on – horses need freedom and room to run – dream big and you can cross the winning post. Here it is straight from the Horse’s Mouth:
Don’t Spare the Horses
Unexpected adventure and romance could be on the agenda – the more off the beaten path the better. The Horse is the ‘Travel Star’ with a surge in travellers visiting remote or adventurous locations. Energy is high and productivity rewarded. But decisive action, not holding your horses, brings victory: you have to act fast in a Horse Year. If you are not 100% sure about something, don’t do it. Events move so quickly in a Horse Year and you don’t want to close the stable door after the horse has bolted (马后炮 mǎ hòu pào).
According to the Chinese, a magical horse has supernatural powers, is heroic, strong and can even fly! A White Celestial Cloud Horse is sacred to the Chinese Goddess of Mercy Guanyin. Her white horse flies through the heavens, bringing peace and good tidings. The horse is a hero in China because important battles were won due to the power and strength of the horse. Genghis Khan (also a horse) conquered Eastern Europe on horseback (马上治天下 mǎshàng zhì tiānxià), consequently Chinese have high expectations of the horse – leaving the heavy lifting to the ox and getting on their high horse – sitting on horseback implies that a person is from a high ranking family, so people born in a Horse Year care about their dress and speech.
The spirit of the horse represents the Chinese people’s ethos – making unremitting efforts to improve themselves. Horses are energetic, bright, warm-hearted, intelligent and able. Through history the Chinese looked for sturdy and beautiful stallions – able to outrun other horses and the one–thousand–mile horse (千里马 qiān lǐ mǎ) – equivalent to around 300 miles a day – meant it was a winged steed which helped emperors conquer the nation. Today, to be called a qiān lǐ mǎ means the person is very capable and knows how to run a business with Horse Sense.
Don’t Back the Wrong Horse
Those of you who worked very hard last year just to see a project stall or client procrastinate will feel like the stable door has finally opened and things will start to turn around. However beware, the horse can also see fools rushing in – yes, luck is with you, but you still need to apply due diligence, use a little common sense and pick your timing. With keen judgement a horse’s natural intuition often leads them down the right path to the right decision. Horses generally don’t need to struggle much for success and do enjoy the finer things in life. Horses rebel when constrained by rules though – let a horse have his head.
Known as a year for leaders, 2026 is set up for those who want to make a difference and know how to make it happen. Horses are fierce competitors. For entrepreneurs and individuals who are planning to start a business, 2026 is a lucky year
Wild Horses Can’t Keep Them Away!
Horses tend to be very popular, fun loving and entertaining. They love to party and find people and crowds exciting. Elegant and charming, they like being the centre of attention. Eloquent speakers, they are persuasive, able to assimilate information quickly, but with a bit of a temper they often speak without thinking and regret later.
Horses get involved in many activities but sometimes lose interest and fail to finish tasks. Prone to getting sucked in to the latest ‘craze’, they don’t take failure well and will need time to recover. Failure is humiliation. Horses like to try different things and are always on the hunt for a better opportunity.
The arts can be prominent in Horse Years – horses having inspired artists in China for thousands of year from ancient frescoes to terracotta statues.
Don’t Flog a Dead Horse
Horses cannot bear to be held back. They are independent and rarely listen to advice. They tend to interfere in many things and frequently fail to finish projects of their own. So try not to get off the track. The Horse Year ends on 5 February 2027 giving way to the Goat (or Sheep if you prefer).
Famous Horses
Cricketers Mitchell Starc, Richie Benaud, Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Josh Hazlewood, Michael Neser, James Faulkner; tennis greats: Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Caroline Wozniacki, Milos Raonic, Lorenzo Musetti, Ben Shelton, Zheng Qinwen, Emma Raducanu, and on a horse theme: Jockey Shane Dye, Trainer Gai Waterhouse; Harry Kewell.
Leaders: Hu Jintao, Nelson Mandela, Sir Robert Menzies, Boris Yeltsin, Joe Biden, David Cameron, Lenin, Jacob Zuma, Shinzo Abe, Angela Merkel, Hugo Chavez, Wen Jiabao, Genghis Khan, Emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng of China’s Qing Dynasty.
Pollies: Jim Chalmers, Don Farrell, Andrew Charlton, Angus Taylor, Monique Ryan, Allegra Spender, Catherine King, Clive Palmer, Pauline Hanson, Malcolm Turnbull, Steve Bracks, Bronwyn Bishop, Wayne Swan.
Neil Armstrong, Rowan Atkinson, Helena Bonham Carter, Warren Buffett, Jackie Chan, Jay Chou, Billy Connolly, Kevin Costner, Cindy Crawford, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Aretha Franklin, Bob Geldof, Gene Hackman, Liam Hemsworth, Jimi Hendrix, Ang Lee, Annie Lennox, Paul McCartney, Spike Milligan, Sir Isaac Newton, Louis Pasteur, Rembrandt, Margot Robbie, Luke Nguyen, Martin Scorsese, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Barbra Streisand, Patrick Swayze, John Travolta, Vivaldi, Denzel Washington, Emma Watson, Vanessa Wu, Oprah Winfrey, Kate Ceberano and my namesake, Kate Ritchie (of Home and Away fame), a high note to end on!
Famous Horses
龙马精神 lóng mǎ jīng shén – a horse and dragon spirit – must be a good thing, whereas 马马虎虎
mǎmǎ hǔhǔ is pretty average!
盲人骑瞎马，夜半临深渊 mán grén qí xiā mǎ, mán grén qí xiā mǎ , yè bàn lín shēn yuān – the blind leading the blind – in this case a blind man riding a blind horse reaching a deep abyss in the middle of the night!
马上 mǎ shàng – get on your horse – immediately.
风马牛不相及 fēng mǎ niú bù xiāngjí – apples and oranges – totally unrelated.
伯乐相马 bó lè xiāng mǎ – praising those who are good at discovering talent.
老马恋栈 lǎo mǎ liàn zhàn – an old horse doesn’t want to depart – often used about people in power who don’t want to relinquish it.
老马识途 lǎo mǎ shí tú – An old horse knows the way – when you are facing intractable problems, ask someone older to point the way.
一言既出，驷马难追 yī yán jì chū, sì mǎ nán zhuī – A word once spoken cannot be overtaken even by a team of four horses – A man is only as good as his word or What’s said is said.
白驹过隙 bái jū guò xì – Time passes quickly like a white pony’s shadow across a crevice; time flies
Horses for Courses – Good for Translators!
Horses take pleasure in positions in which they’re able to interact with other people. They aren’t fond of taking orders and they’ll run from jobs they contemplate as routine. They’re able to grasp new subjects with ease making them capable of handling most jobs. They’re efficient communicators – with the gift of the gab – and they appreciate power. Good professions for Horses could be: publicist, sales representative, journalist, language instructor, translator, bartender, performer, tour operator, travel vlogger, librarian or pilot; creativity is rewarded in both the arts and sciences.
People born under the Year of the Horse will enjoy success in their careers in the year 2026. Horse people do not like to stick around a single business venture or a company for a long time yet they put their best efforts to enhance the growth of the firm where they are employed. Working with a single company might bore them.
Horse bosses want you to work like they do. This tendency and impatience can hamper their working relationships with others. They need to be more tolerant.
Compatibility
Get on well with Tigers, Goats, Roosters, Dogs and other Horses, not too good for Monkeys and especially not Rats.
Flogging a Dead Horse
In the ancient Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046–256 BC) lived an exceptional man, Bo Le. He was good at picking winners and in today’s language he’d be called a horse whisperer. One day he travelled to a far kingdom and spied a horse pulling a heavy cart laden with salt. The horse started to neigh when he saw Bo Le, pleading for help. Bo Le went over and immediately realised that this was no ordinary cart horse, but an exceptional qiān lǐ mǎ (千里马 one–thousand–mile horse) – a Melbourne Cup Winner (we’d say today) and capable leader – he broke down at the misuse of this heroic creature.
Bo Le said to the cart driver – this horse can run 1000 li a day – in war no horse can compare with him – why don’t you sell him. The driver, thinking the horse was getting thin and losing strength, sold him to Bo Le and together, horse and horse whisperer returned to the Kingdom of Chu. Patting the horse Bo Le told him that a good master had been found. The King came outside and seeing the thin horse was shocked that Bo Le would describe it as a qiān lǐ mǎ. Not happy, Bo Le said: “I thought you were a bloodstock expert – this horse can hardly walk!” Bo Le insisted that the horse just needed care and indeed, in no time the horse recovered and carried the King into battle – winning many of them.
An enduring saying arose: “there may be many famous horses but not many who can pick them!
In contrast, there was another king who was happy to spend 1000 taels of gold to secure a qiān lǐ mǎ. He spread the word of his quest, but after three years no such horse materialised. An official came to the king and volunteered, for 300 taels, to fulfil his wish. The official travelled far and wide for three months and finally was flogged a dead horse for 500 taels! He brought a skeleton back to the palace!
The king was furious, as you would imagine. The official placated: “Calm down and watch.” Once people heard that the king was prepared to spend so much money on a dead horse, no less than three qiān lǐ mǎ were purchased and the king was delighted.
The saying is still used today: If you want to attract good talent you need good strategies.
Horse Happenings Past and Future
This Horse Year sees the Winter Olympics in Italy. In the 2002 Horse Year Winter Olympics, Australian Steven Bradbury won our first ever winter gold medal; the soccer World Cup will take place in Canada, Mexico and USA, and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (again in a Horse Year).
Mister Ed, the talking horse, screened its final episode in a Horse Year and rock and roll was born.
Technology and productivity are key themes in this Horse Year (well aren’t they always!). The World Wide Web started in a Horse Year (1990), as did the human genome project, the first test tube baby arrived in 1978 and insulin was invented. In 2014, AI and machine learning started their rise. Experts predict 2026 will be the “Year of the Agent” – the year AI can perform complex tasks autonomously and will move from labs into mainstream R&D and pharmaceutical drug discovery.
In 1990 the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope was a major milestone in space exploration that changed our view of the universe. Also in the 1966 Horse Year the Soviet Union’s Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface. This Horse Year JAXA (Japan) is scheduled to launch a mission to collect samples from Phobos, one of Mars’ moons.
Back in 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as the first-ever (and only) ‘President’ of the Soviet Union; earlier in a Horse Year the execution of the Romanov royal family took place in July 1918. After 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela (a Horse) was freed in 1990, signalling the beginning of the end of Apartheid in South Africa. Narendra Modi won an historic victory in India’s election in Horse Year 2014 – the first party in thirty years to win an absolutely majority and he is still going strong at age 77). Horse Year 1990 marked the end of Communism in the Eastern bloc with reunification of Germany in 1990.
Wars have continued in Horse Years: Iraq invaded Kuwait, Gulf War twelve years later, Vietnam War, Darwin was bombed in a Horse Year during World War 2 and World War 1 ended with the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 2018. Also the collapse of Cambodia’s Pol Pot regime, the Russian annexation of Crimea, the rise of ISIS in Iraq and the Bali Bombing occurred in Horse Years.
Horses were not so good for aviation: Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014, and Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July 2014. For those who can remember, Ansett ceased operation in Horse Year 2002.
China had some strong moments – Jiang Zemin admitting capitalists into the Communist Party in 2002, Deng Xiaoping announced economic reforms in 1978 and the Cultural Revolution started too in a Horse Year. Importantly, the first Pizza Hut and McDonalds opened in China in a Horse Year. The United States and the People’s Republic of China established full diplomatic relations in 1978 (some 6 years after Australia). Hu Jintao (a Horse) became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in the 2002 Horse Year.
The Spanish Flu killed up to 100 million in 1918. Mass polio vaccinations started in 1954.
Horse Years Good for currencies: the Australian dollar was introduced in 1966 and Euro notes and coins started circulation in 2002.
Capping off our history of Horse Years and spare a thought for Encyclopaedia Britannica, which ceased printing in 2012 having seen its highest all time sales in Horse Year 1990; a few years later it was facing oblivion. How would it go today against AI? Well, in fact it is now an AI company with a $1 billion valuation as a trusted source of answers from its 200 years of history!
Be sure your zodiac sign is actually the Horse, as Chinese New Year starts on a different day each year (and never on January 1).
Make a big impact on your sales this Chinese New Year
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