The Horse

Who is a Horse?

Years: 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002.
Month*: June
Hour: 11 am – 13.00
* Caution: the start of the Chinese month can be as early as the 4th & as late as the 9th, depending on the year. I can let you know this too.

What is a Horse?
The horse is yang fire, the charmer, the extrovert, the seducer of the Zodiac, the Horse is rarely caught out despite his high-risk strategy. He has an ego of course but is better able to laugh at himself than for instance the Dragon. Like the Dragon, the Pig and the Rooster though, he can not work with his own kind. The typical Horse is not a deep thinker and his ego leads him to suppose that no one else is either.
There tends to be a belief in shortage, at work in the Horse. He thinks he must be the first to the trough if he is to eat. In romance the Horse like the Rooster, can be what Leonard Cohen calls “a thin gypsy thief”. This means his weakness can be a failure to respect boundaries and property. Of all the animals, the Horse and Rooster are typically the marriage breakers and the home wreckers. This is not inevitable of course. If we know this about ourselves we can make wiser choices. Just because today is a good day to die, it is not necessarily a good day to kill.
Predictably the Horse is often not great at commitment. The yin and yang of this by the way is that a self-aware Horse is the most constant partner there is.
Success matters a great deal to the Horse. He is not generally subtle. It is the winning not the taking part that tends to concern him.
The fiery Horse is not keen on water. He experiences this element whether expressed as a Rat year or as excessive communication, dampening his enthusiasm. Water slos him down but does not halt him.
Interestingly the Horse’s charisma is best expressed either in a team with the other Plum Flowers, Rat, Rabbit and Rooster or with the Sheep. You will often find Sheep and Horse out and about together, the Horse radiating charm and the Sheep reflecting it. This actually is a good partnership; the Sheep is in awe of the sheer daring of the Horse and the reckless Horse may often need grounding, safety and a short term loan.
The Horse’s home team all of whom have fire in common, is with the Tiger and the Dog. These are the hunters of the Zodiac: the Tiger kills, the Horse chases, the Dog guards. This support system is the most likely to bring the Horse rewards. On his own he is prone to burn brightly and extinguish early. He’ll have a good time though.
The Horse finds the Ox hard work also. There is metal hidden in the Ox which the Horse can turn to his advantage but the Ox’s preferences are humdrum to him.
The Horse has visual, imaginative and intellectual gifts but is unlikely to value them enough to put them to good use. So many of the words we use about the virtue of work illustrate the unwillingness of the Horse to stick at things: harness, yoke, saddle, blinker etc. Again the yin and yang is that a conscious Horse never quits.
A Horse who works with a Snake may achieve greatness because the Snake understands the Horse just as she understands the Dragon, additionally the Snake will not need to compete. In many ways the Snake is the perfect partner but it is more likely the Snake will recognise this than the Horse. The Snake suffers in the short term and the Horse in the long.
Racing, partying, playing, the danger for the Horse is burn out. The challenge is to defer gratification long enough that there remains a future.

The Horse: Outlook for 2011
The Rabbit is yin wood, the Horse is essentially yang fire. Wood feeds fire so this year the Horse is fuelled but not enough. This may either be a year of frustrations or of building a solid future. Centrally this depends on the ability of the individual Horse to defer gratification. Now is the time for long term planning, not the Horse’s long suit.
The Horse is the totem of celebrity and celebrity can fall into two broad categories; earned and unearned. Will Ferrell says that he portrays characters (like the hapless Ron Burgundy in Anchorman) with “unearned confidence” The queues of hopefuls outside the X Factor studios will have included a disproportionate number of Horses. Those with talent as well as a dream have a future, those with a dream alone may be facing heartbreak.
This year the Horse is determined not to be second best: in relationship, career and elsewhere. If you feel you have been playing second fiddle to your partner’s work, this year you may be about to put your foot down. If you are employed, you may be contemplating making the break to self-employment. If you are 2nd-in command, you may be glimpsing an opening to become top dog. The thing to bear in mind though is that this year the Horse is well advised to think in terms of the long game. Just because you are impatient does not mean it is time to make your move.
As a child, I remember waiting for the bus to take me home from school. Sometimes I’d become impatient and start to walk to the next stop. So many times I missed two buses this way. The Horse needs good timing this year in order not to miss the bus.
More seriously the Horse’s need to get on with things could be physically dangerous. Haste makes us careless. Think through the implications of your actions before you take them, not after. Think strategically rather than tactically.
If there is a big opportunity beckoning, consider what you may need to learn or prepare in order to make full use of it. This may take a while, perhaps the whole year.
A special word for the Metal Horse of 1990: Everything happens for a reason and you were born for a cause if not a Cause. Every such Horse is to a greater or lesser extent, a champion, a Joan of Arc. If you could not vote either side of the Atlantic in 2004 & 2005 but have been able to since, you may be disappointed by the behaviour of those you voted in. The rightwing coalition in the UK bolstered by the youth vote for the Liberal Democrats may be a stark example. The Metal Horses of 1990 are the next generation of leaders and will tend to dominate 2011’s protests and sit-ins. Remember to be true to yourself and to stay out of harm’s way. These are dark times and you are a beam of light. If you are unsure of your life’s purpose, bear these words in mind. You are most likely to find meaning as an advocate of the underdog.