2026 is the Year of the Horse: What does it mean and what can you expect?

January has come and gone, and despite our best intentions, some of us didn’t quite get around to revamping our lives the way we had planned. Fortunately, in the Chinese zodiac, 2026 officially begins with the second new moon after the winter solstice – usually in February.

Whether or not you believe in astrology, it’s thought-provoking to gather inspiration from the solar-lunar systems to consider how our lives are tracking, and make changes that add value, positivity and meaning to our lives. 

How does the Chinese zodiac differ from the Western zodiac?

While the Chinese and Western zodiacs both use 12 animals to describe traits or personalities, the Chinese zodiac is a 12-year cycle that attributes an animal to each year. Most of us are aware of our Western zodiac sign, the colloquial “star sign”, which loosely aligns with the month or date of our birth in any given year. 

In contrast, each year in the Chinese zodiac is characterised by a different animal and also aligns with one of the five basic elements: metal, wood, water, fire, or earth. Chinese cosmologists observed that Jupiter’s orbit around the sun took about 12 years, giving it the name “Year Star” (Suìxīng).

Whereas Western astrology gives people a star sign based on the placement of various celestial bodies at the exact time of their birth, Chinese zodiac placements reflect the fact that everyone born within the same Chinese zodiac year shares a similar Jupiter placement, forming the basis for their characteristics.

On February 17, we will officially say goodbye to 2025, the Year of the Wood Snake, and enter 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse. What will this mean for our energetic states and life trajectories? How can we use the shift of a new energetic timeframe to create a life that feels most aligned and fulfilling? And why did last year feel so difficult, uncertain, and chaotic for so many of us?

2025: A year of grief, shedding and breaking cyclical patterns

I don’t know if it’s just a natural part of ageing, but last year felt rife with challenges, big realisations, and significant transitions. The Year of the Wood Snake is said to embody reflection, introspection, intuition and shedding or releasing the old to make space for the new. During this period, many of my loved ones and I felt a deep sense of internal unrest and a desire to break free from old patterns.

In an uncommon co-occurrence, 2025 was also a Year 9 in the ancient study of numerology, in which life is organised into nine-year cycles with distinct energetic themes. Year 9 signifies endings, letting go, and releasing what no longer serves us. Combine that with the Year of the Snake, and it’s little wonder that so many of us felt like everything we thought we knew was falling apart.

I witnessed more people making big, bold career changes, and others making plans to move interstate or overseas. Some people may have stayed put physically, but gone on deep internal journeys to embrace parts of themselves they had long ignored or suppressed by seeking mental health support or getting diagnosed with neurodivergence. 

For many women, 2025 was also a year of ending relationships with partners, friends or family members that were no longer serving them. The decline in human romantic interaction has been referred to as a ‘dating recession’, sometimes attributed to increased cost-of-living pressures, the rise of AI-driven relationships, or differing political ideologies.

In addition to these practical causal factors, some believe this trend reflects a deeper shift, wherein women are no longer settling for ‘good-enough’ marriages, friendships, or family dynamics for the sake of being ‘nice’ or agreeable. As economic empowerment slowly closes the gender wealth gap, women are less likely to stay in unhappy partnerships out of necessity. Instead, they are embracing their independence by remaining single until they find a partner who meets their expectations of mutual support and emotional intimacy. 

Sophie Birgan, a psychotherapist who called 2025 the year of The Reckoning of Love, said: “Women are seeking partnerships where they can exhale, where their emotions are not an inconvenience, where they are cherished not for what they provide, but for who they intrinsically are. They are severing ties with partners who remain emotionally guarded [or] mistake complacency for stability”.

Even when they are for the best, endings are never easy. If you ended 2025 exhausted from emotional turmoil or a sense that your life was falling apart around you, you’re not alone. The good news is that perhaps it wasn’t collapsing into chaos for chaos’ sake, but falling away to make space for the new beginnings and fresh starts that 2026, a numerological Year 1, has to offer. 

2026: A year of fire, freedom and first steps

In December last year, almost everyone I spoke to described a profound exhaustion and need for a break. New Year’s Eve plans were lowkey or non-existent, as people felt more inclined to stay in and prioritise deep rest as a reward for surviving such a tumultuous year.

But as the first weeks of January crept by, there seemed to be a collective energy shift. I felt motivation and a desire to try new things, build new habits, and open myself up to new possibilities again. My friends started reaching out to initiate plans with enthusiasm and liveliness again.

The Year of the Horse, combined with a numerological Year 1, is the perfect time to start fresh, create momentum, and embrace the freedom to follow paths that feel attuned to our deepest desires. Following a year of shedding old versions of ourselves or habits we have outgrown, we may feel a sense of space and openness to fill our freshly blank state with new experiences. 

Resetting, restarting, and harnessing energy are major themes of the Year of the Horse. It’s the perfect time to embrace joyful movement, which tends to your physical and spiritual body with loving awareness and intention. It’s also a year of ambition and setting goals, be that getting a promotion or pay rise, making a big career change, or finally embarking on that side hustle you always dreamed of.

We are multifaceted, complex social and emotional beings, so how you interpret the power of a Year 1 and Year of the Horse combination will be highly individual. Perhaps in your life context, the Year of the Fire Horse is less about making big career moves and more about nurturing meaningful friendships or prioritising joy, playfulness, and hobbies that fill your energetic cup. 

As we embrace the speed, strength and forward motion of 2026, we must also remember to practice balance to ensure sustainability and prevent burnout. When we are excited and highly motivated about something new, it’s easy to ignore signs that our bodies need rest, or that our nervous systems require time to regulate and return to a healthy baseline. 

The Year of the Horse is also about finding your own rhythm and honing in on your intuition, which may feel particularly strong this year. You may at times feel a fiery sense of urgency to make progress and achieve your goals, so it will be more important than ever to keep recovery at the forefront of your mind.

We must avoid the trap of confusing a busy schedule or sense of frantic ‘doing’ with true productivity and alignment with what matters to you. It’s not the time to become stuck in over-analysing, planning, and procrastination, but to set mindful boundaries regarding what is worth your time and energy. 

Explore, experiment, play and be curious about how you structure this fresh chapter. Ideally, you will find a balance between striving towards meaningful goals while taking pauses to tend to your physical and spiritual needs. Nourish your body with flavourful and nutrient-dense foods, spend time with friends who inspire and support you, prioritise quality sleep, and consider mindfulness practices that recharge you with the energy to ride strong into a powerful, rewarding, prosperous year.