TO A friend had been telling me for several minutes about her recent messy breakup when she paused to reflect. “Anyway, it doesn't matter because everything will be fine soon,” he said smiling. Why is that? “Because next month is the year of the horse.” At first I was confused. This friend had never expressed the slightest interest in the Chinese zodiac before, let alone anything else remotely astrological or spiritual. But here she was, finding solace in the fact that as of February 17th we moved from the year of the snake to the year of the horse.
She's not the only one. Since that conversation a few weeks ago, I've had several similar chats with other friends who have confided in me about their various January problems (family arguments, money problems, rental nightmares) only to be told just seconds later that everything would be fine due to the arrival of “the horse” next month.
A friend explained that the snake was about “getting rid of past traumas” and letting go of toxicity, while the horse is about starting the year with a clean slate and starting anew. Another is obsessed with the numerological aspect of it all; The numbers in 2026 add up to 10, which added together gives us one.
“It's huge for restoring your energy,” he gushed. And a new friend told me she's planning to cast a love spell to get her ex back, which apparently also has something to do with the horse. And the moon.
Obsession exists far beyond my own circle of friends. There are thousands of viral videos on social media about why the year of the horse is so significant. “It's about taking risks, rebellion, courage,” says a TikToker in a video with more than 76,000 views. “The snake is about shedding old layers. Renewal, cycle of rebirth, and we go into the horse, which is creating freedom, courage, compassion and creation.”
The letting go part seems to be captivating many self-help influencers, with one claiming to have seen people let go of “things that were especially uncomfortable for them, like relationships, jobs, situations” in the lead-up to the Year of the Horse. She continues, “I felt the need to let go more before February starts and I can really take my power.”
Another TikTok user points out that this year is especially significant because it falls on the day of a solar eclipse. “This is super intense energy and will mark an important moment in human history,” he tells his followers in a clip that has received more than 39,000 likes. Similar sentiments have gone viral on Instagram: “2025: The snake. Clear your path. 2026: The horse. It makes you move forward,” reads a meme that has received more than 427,000 likes.
So is the year of the horse really that important? And why do so many people hope this will change their lives? The Chinese zodiac is made up of 12 animal signs, such as the rabbit, the dragon, the snake and, of course, our humble horse. According to the lunar calendar, the signs correspond to different years, so 2027 will be the goat, which will be followed by the monkey. Your year of birth determines your personal Chinese zodiac sign; many have said that for those born in the year of the horse (which includes those born in 1990), this will be a particularly seismic year.
According to Chinese astrology, the horse is defined by traits such as confidence, responsibility, and intelligence. Horses move fast and seek freedom, resenting being controlled. In terms of what this means for 2026, it is about channeling new opportunities and transformation. Combine this with the numerology of it all and that renewal modus operandi becomes extra powerful. 2026 brings us into a Universal Year 1 (2025 was a Universal Year 9, which was about endings), which means we have entered a new numerological cycle and are starting from the beginning again. Then there's the fire horse part: each year corresponds to one of the five Chinese elements; those that end in six or seven are always fire.
“A Fire Horse year enhances the natural dynamism of the Horse,” says Ada Ooi, integrative Chinese medicine practitioner and founder of 001 London. “Fire brings intensity, urgency and passion, which can be motivating but also demanding. This combination often creates a faster pace of life and a stronger drive to achieve, making it especially important to be attuned to the body's limits and energy reserves.”
As for why so many people have gotten involved in all this, well, it seems that anything that makes sense of an increasingly chaotic world is something to hold on to. In a TikTok video, a user points out that the last year of the firehorse was 1966, a time of seismic global change. It was the beginning of China's Cultural Revolution and the Vietnam War was escalating. “Cold War tensions peaked, ideological divisions hardened, and civil rights unrest intensified,” he continues before citing a litany of other examples. Perhaps this year of the horse will be equally transformative on a global scale.
And on a personal note, the idea of starting over in 2026 along the lines of this new and exciting horse energy is certainly attractive to many. “Culturally, the Horse represents resilience and drive, qualities that many people naturally gravitate toward in times of uncertainty or transition,” explains Susan Gu, traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and acupuncturist at London-based wellness clinic The HVN. “Symbolism offers reassurance and motivation, encouraging people to take initiative, trust their instincts and move forward with confidence. In this sense, it works less like fortune-telling and more like a psychological and emotional reset.”
In a society where religion and other traditional belief systems are on the margins, many people still yearn for a higher meaning, if only to make sense of the world and their place in it. Enter spirituality: the beliefs, ideas, and systems that lie outside typical Western ideologies and are becoming increasingly popular among adrift generations looking for something to hold on to.
I should add that it tends to be my friends who are particularly committed; Men I know tend to roll their eyes at anything related to the zodiac. But I increasingly think they're missing a trick.
Because regardless of whether you believe in the meaning of it all, starting a new year with a vigorous sense of renewal is undoubtedly a positive thing. At the very least, it offers some comfort to those who might have had a shaky start to the year. And who knows? If we believe better things will come, then maybe that's all we need to make sure they do. And if it comes to choosing between pessimism and hope, well, I know which one I'd rather choose.
