Year of the Horse Forecast 2026

Released: November 15, 2025

ABSTRACT

The Chinese calendar, commonly known as the Farmers’ Calendar, or the Hsia Calendar, is a fascinatingly accurate system, which not only records the passage of time, but is also a tool for fortune-telling. The famous traditional fortune-telling system – The Four Pillars of Destiny – is exactly referring to reading a person’s destiny from his birth data as presented in the Hsia calendar format.  The unique feature of such calendar is that all information about time – year, month, day and hour are presented in terms of the five basic elements – metal, water, wood, fire and earth, which are believed to be the basic components of everything in the Universe. The relationship between the five elements accurately helps one predict what is to come by way of one’s fortunes and thus, one can by using this knowledge, multiply the good luck or minimize the bad luck in one’s life.

 

The Year of the Horse 2026, in the Hsia calendar, is symbolized by two Chinese characters – with Yang Fire  sitting on top of Horse which is Fire element.  So it is a strong Fire year with Fire on both Heavenly Stem and Earthly branch. According to the cycle of birth and destruction, which governs the inter-relationship between the elements, if the two elements are in the productive cycle and have supporting relationship, then the year will have more harmony and easier to negotiate for peace. However, despite such supportive relationship of pure  fire, we cannot be too optimistic about peace and harmony, as Yang Fire is compared to the Sun with powerful energy. The Sun symbolize the quality of popularity, straight – forward but quick temper and impulsiveness.  Hence there will be impulsive action without careful consideration and planning, leading to open conflicts, hostilities, and quarrels in international relationships bringing war and disharmony. political turbulence, coup d’etat, anti-government activities….etc.  

The 2026 Yang  Fire  element represents the powerful Sun which is Open – minded, straight -forward, and popular and happy on the outside, but  has the drawback of quick temper, impulsiveness, taking action without carefully planning. A yang Fire  person is often described as warm hearted, popular and easy to make friends, and flexible, full of energy and enthusiasm. Like the Sun which brings life and growth on earth, Yang Fire people also brings benefit to friends and the public. Many Yang fire people are popular leaders and scientists and artists. Typical examples of talented innovative scientists are Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs,  Robert Oppenheimer,  There are also famous politicians who are born on Yang fire  day, such as Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin, Li Qiang……The famous artist Vincent Van Gogh was also born on a Yang Fire day.  Other famous celebrities born on a Yang Fire day include Paris Hilton, Karen Carpenter, Roman Polanski, Anita Mui, Michelle Yeoh and Sandra Bullock… 

Roman Polanski, Paris Hilton, Michelle Yeoh

In the 5 elements system, Fire is the element of heart and blood circulation. It is also symbol of  yang energy in our body. Yang Fire people is active, energetic, forceful and sporty. Fire also affects emotion and the brain. Hence symbolize the shoulder. in Wood is related to back bone and neck, hence Yang Fire people often emotional and warm hearted but quick temper and impulsive.  Imbalance of fire will cause heart and blood circulation health problem and inflammation. As Fire is strong and water is lacking. There are also problem related to kidney and immune system.  Fire destroys Metal element which is our breathing organ and skin, there will also be sickness in such area. Yang Fire also symbolizes the shoulder. So Yang Fire year may also cause shoulder pain to people who have excessive Fire elements in their Four Pillars of Destiny.  

 

Related to internal organs, yang Fire  represents the small intestines  and happy mood. Hence there is strong tendency of confidence and positive optimism. Such confidence will be the driving force behind the stock market and the economy. Hence the strong yang fire of 2026 will bring strong economy recovery and optimism in investment and stock market. The economic atmosphere and consumption market will enjoy a boom especially during the wood and fire months of spring and summer.  Israel Palestine war broke out in October 2023 is reflecting such stubborn character and anger.  And the stock market will go high from the month of February to July. There will be slight slow down during the autumn and winter months between August and January but the optimism remains strong as the following year 2027 continue to be Fire element again.   It seems the trade war between USA and China will come up with positive resolution and International trade will be active and profitable again in 2026.  

The Horse is fire element with earth and fire hidden inside. It is yin fire which symbolize fire disaster and explosions. With yang fire on top and yin fire below, the powerful fire element will trigger massive heat and explosive fire disaster. These may bring big fire disasters such as nuclear explosion. Looking back history, yang fire is somewhat related to nuclear energy. For example, Robert Oppenheimer – the father of the atomic bomb was born on a yang fire day, and he successfully made the first test of the atomic bomb on 16/7/1945 which is Yang fire Dog day.  The devastating  nuclear explosion at Fukushima, Japan  immediately following the 311 tsunami happened on 12/3/2011 which is Yang fire Tiger day.

 

The Horse, in Chinese astrology, is a “Peach Blossom”. This is a symbol of “Flower of Romance”.  It  means the year 2026 will trigger more Romantic incidents, love affairs and sex scandals. It will be beneficial to art, music, entertainment, cooking and other sports. The Horse is “Peach Blossom” star particularly for  people born in year or day of Snake, Rooster and Ox. The Chinese calendar goes in 60 years cycle, this means 60 year ago in 1966, the world experienced the same yang Fire Horse year as 2026. Looking back in 1966, it is the peak year of entertainment and pop culture with pop music bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones conquered the whole world with their pop music and free lifestyle.   

 

The Horse is in clash against the Rat, this is serious clash between water and fire which will cause water and fire disasters such as sinking of ships and crash of airplanes. Looking back 60 years ago in 1966, there were plenty of air crashes and disasters at sea. On 4/2/1966, All Nippon Airways plane plunged into Tokyo Bay, 133 people were killed. On 4/3 Canadian air line plane crashed in Tokyo airport killing 64 people. And BOAC flight 911 crashed over Mount Fuji killing 124 passengers. On 8/6 2 US war Plane crashed in mid-air , on 28/7 a US airplane disappeared over Cuba. On 6/8 a US airliner crashed over Nebraska, killing 42 people. On 1/9 a Britannia Airways flight 105 crashed in Yugoslavia killing 98 tourists. On 1/10 West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashed in Oregon. And on 24/11 an airliner plane crashed near Czechoslovakia killing 82 people…..

 

There were also shipping disaster at sea in 1966. On 31/7 a pleasure cruiser called Darlwyne disappeared off the coast of England with the loss of 31 people on board.  On 26/10 a fire aboard the US aircraft carrier USS Oriskany in the Gulf of Tonkin killed 44 crewmen. On 29/11 The SS Daniel J Morrell sank in a storm killing 28 people. On 8/12 a ferry boat sank in Aegean sea killing 217 people. 

 

The Horse encounter another Horse is called “self -penalty” which intensifies the power of the fire elements. With acute imbalance of fire and water, it will also bring turbulent weather disaster and natural disasters such as volcanic eruption and earthquake. Looking back in 1966, On 22/3 There is 6.8 magnitude earthquake in the city Xingtai in China, leaving 8000 dead and 38000 injured. On 26/4 there was magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake in Soviet Union killing 200 people. On 8/6 devastating tornado hit the USA killing 16 people and caused catastrophic damage. On 19/8 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Turkey killing 3000 people. On 29/9 hurricane Inez strikes Hispaniola, leaving thousands dead in Haiti and Dominican Republic. On 4/11 there was flooding of the Arno river in Italy leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. 


Flooding and Strong Winds in Miami during Hurricane Inez in October 3

In Flying Star feng shui, the star number 1 occupies the center in 2026,  and 1 is star of future prosperity and represents positive prosperous energy. But 1 also is water element so it will not be surprising that there will also be water disaster  particularly associate with areas in the “Middle” – take for example- China, Middle East, Central Africa, or Central America are likely affected areas. 

 

As Water conquers Fire, so Fire represents Money to Water people. So 2026 strong Fire year will be favorable to Water industry and bring financial gain to strong water people. So industries like shipping, transport, communication will enjoy a profitable year with strong financial gains.  Famous business people born on strong water day include Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Peter Woo, Tim Cook, Tom Cruise, Stephen King, Prince Harry and the Chinese tycoon Ren Zhengfei….. will be in good position to make money.   

 

2026 year of strong fire is the peak of fire cycle. There had not been a fire year since the year of Earth Dog in 2018, the Dog is Grave of Fire, and in 2019 the fire is totally terminated in the Pig. Then the massive water cycle began in 2020 Metal Rat year bringing the pandemic of COVID 19.  As Fire element is associate with happiness, energy and economic activities, the absence of fire between 2018 to 2024 also resulted in setback in stock market and in world economy.  Now in 2026, the fire element eventually returned with the Horse and sure it will bring strong drive in confidence and economic activities bringing up the stock market and global growth and investment.  The Fire cycle began in 2025 year of Snake and intensifies in 2026 year of Fire Horse. As such, stepping into spring of 2026 we can expect upsurge of economic activities, travelling, tourism, bringing up the stock market.  As Fire element belongs to the south and Horse is located in South, this prosperous energy is particularly beneficial to S and SE Asia and we can expect a boom in Asian market, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and other South Asian countries.  This phenomenon is similar to the previous fire cycle started in 2013 and 2014 year of Snake and Horse. It was a year bringing prosperity to many Chinese business such as Ali baba, Ten Trent, Huawei …until the economic set back brought by COVID 19 in 2020 – year of Metal Rat. So the going into the peak of Fire cycle in 2026, we can expect a boom of new generation of high tech industries from China, such as Deep Seek, Bytedance, Xiaomi….etc. 

 

The fire element is happiness, it is also related to finance, stock market, entertainment and beauty, and flying objects… With the return of fire, people are more optimistic and have confidence to purchase, to spend money and to invest.  This will bring optimism to the financial market, including shares and stocks, tourism industry, crypto currency, airline and transport business, property, banking and gold business.  There is always the believe that “Fire makes gold into useful tools”. So gold price will often go up in a strong fire year.  As banking business is also symbolized by metal element, fire year will also bring prosperity to banking related business.   

 

Fire element is associate with space and flying objects. Fire year will trigger more space exploration.

 

60 years ago in 1966, it is the same Yang Fire  over the Horse year.  There were also plenty of progress in space exploration.  On 1/3 the Soviet space probe Venera 3 crashed on Venus, it was the first spacecraft to land on another planet. On 31/3 the Soviet Union launched Luna 10 to enter the orbit round the Moon,  on 25/5  NASA launched  Satellite Explorer 32 into Earth orbit…. So the same yang fire horse year in 2026 will see significant advancement  towards space exploration, and more countries will participate in the race..

 

In the system of Four Pillars of Destiny, the Horse is in clash against the Rat and in penalty relationship with the Horse itself. .  The clash is between fire and water elements so it will activate fire disasters and explosion.  It will also bring more accidents in the air and at sea.  Fire  in the human body is related to heart and blood circulation and inflammation.. As such, for people who are having Horse   in their Four Pillars, it is easier to suffer from heart disease, blood pressure and inflammation problem. As fire supports earth which represents our muscle and cells, fire year will make it easier to gain weight and will also bring obesity and diabetes ..  

 

As fire attacks metal and there is total absence of water element this year, there is also weakness in the kidney and immune system area which will trigger flu or pandemic related to breathing organ.   Yang Fire  is the shoulder and small intestines and it is also related to the brain, it also relates to energy, blood circulation and activities.  When fire is weak,  if it is your important element, it may cause energy and blood pressure and heart problems.   

 

So in 2026, people who have Horse in their birth year will offend the Tai Shui and in self penalty with the Tai Shui.  For people who have Rat in their Four Pillars will be in clash against the Tai Sui. Such clash will bring changes and movement and sometimes accidents and bloodshed. All these people need to carry pendant of the Goat to reduce the negative influence of the Horse.  As the Goat will combine with the Horse and will help to attract away the hostile Hor so as to reduce the intensity of clash or penalty.  

 

Famous Pig people born in the Horse year are Angela Merkel, Jennifer Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Condoleezza Rice, Kiefer Sutherland, Gordon Ramsey, Maria Cordero and the Turkish President Erdogan….  Celebrities born in year of Rat and so in clash against the Horse are Prince Harry, Robert Plant, Mark Zuckerberg, and Japanese Emperor Naruhito..  ….There are people who are not born in Rat year but born on a Rat day or Horse day, hence they are also under clash and penalty in the year of Horse. And the clash and penalty against Day Pillar will also affect relationship area particularly at home with spouse. Examples are Prince Harry, Terry Gou, Jennifer Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher were born on Rat day, and Pricilla Chan, Li Qiang were born on Horse day.   

Angela Merkel, Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Lawrence

President Donald Trump of USA is a strong earth person, hence fire is not his favorable element and will stimulate obstacles, challenges and health problem. So he may encounter more opposition and obstacles in carrying out his policies in the year of Fire Horse, and he has to beware of sickness related to heart and blood circulation. The Chinese President Xi Jinping is also a strong fire person, so excessive amount of fire will also bring competition and challenges to China. There is a prophecy in China called “The curse of the Fire Horse and Red Goat”. As all through Chinese history, any fire horse and fire goat years used to bring political turbulence and natural disasters. For example, in the previous Fire Horse year 1906, there is big typhoon bringing devastating damage to the SE province of China, killing over 4000 people, also there was big flooding of the Yangtze river killing over 40,000 people. And in the last Fire Horse year 1966, the Cultural Revolution started in China bringing 10 years of political turbulence and destruction. As such, the fire Horse year of 2026 could also be a year of big changes and challenges in China. 

 

Lai Ching Te, the leader of Taiwan, was born in year of Pig and under clash with the Snake in 2025. He is strong metal person and Fire is his power and status element. So 2026 Fire Horse year is favorable to him and this may reduce the tension in relationship between Taiwan and China. such clash may mean tension in the Taiwan Strait and conflict in the relationship between China and Taiwan.  

  

 Another world leader showing negative influence from the strong fire element Snake is the president of Philippines – Bongbong Marcos who is born on 13/9/1957 and is extremely weak earth person, as such fire element is unfavorable and the strong fire bring along by the year of the Horse may mean challenges and obstacles. All these points to tension and troubles in the East and South China sea area. 

  

Vladimir Putin of Russia and Zelensky of Ukraine are both extremely weak fire person. As such strong fire element are their enemies. So both into not so favorable year in 2026. The strong yang fire may mean competitors threatening their position and status in 2026 so both leaders may suffer loss of power and control. 

 

In Europe, most of the leaders favors strong fire which will bring stability and economic gains. For example, the French President Macron is a strong water person and fire will bring him money benefit. The European leader von de Leyen is a weak earth lady needing the support of strong fire, the British Prime Minister Starmer is also strong water person with fire as his money element.. hence European countries will be benefited by the strong fire Horse year with improvement in power and economy. 

   

 

The strong fire of 2026  is expected to bring prosperity to water industries, this is because water conquers Fire, so the strong fire element is a symbol of money to the water industry, which includes shipping, transport, communication. Logistics….    The second best industries could be wood, as wood produce fire,  so the Horse fire  means productivity to Wood industry and makes wood actively producing.   Wood industries are fashion, textile, media, paper, forestry and environment….As “fire melts metal into useful tools”. The strong fire year is also beneficial to metal industry which include banking, car, machinery, skin care and health products,  high tech hardware….etc. the price of gold will also have strong tendency to go up.   Fire industry – such as restaurant, entertainment, finance, energy, power generating, are also active but they will see serious competitions.     Earth element sees  water as money, without water element, they are not seeing financial gains, but the fire still will generate optimism which will often supportive of property business. .   

In summary, the industries that will perform better in the year of the Horse will be industries related to Water element and wood element.  Metal industries such as  banking, machinery, engineering, car , beauty and skin care will also be favorable….. Water industries are transport, shipping, logistic, drinking, spa…

 

With the arrival of “Age of 9” in 2024, there are more attention on the development of metaverse business which includes cryptocurrency and NFT…such activities are of speculative nature and the market behavior is similar to the stock market. As such, its price level also fluctuates with confidence like the stock market.  Therefore, fire element is essential for its prosperity.  As fire is returning  in 2026, the enthusiasm to invest in metaverse business and cryptocurrency may also be picking up in the Horse year like the stock market. 

In general, the Yang Fire Horse  year, with yang Fire  on top and fire Horse below, is symbol of creativity and growth and it brings back optimism after the past years of fear brought about by water cycle from 2018 to 2024.   And the atmosphere will be positive and the yang fire will offer more positive energy and optimism and flexibility  to compromise and negotiate.    However, as the yang fire  often brings hot temper and impulsive actions,  there will still be unrest, conflict and turbulence before a compromised settlement.  

     

The animal sign which is most unfavorable is the Rat which is in direct clash against the Horse. Such clashes will usually bring about turbulence, movements, accident or changes, bloodshed...  People born in the year of the Rat will anticipate more travelling, or movement sch as changing job or moving house.  As Yang Fire  is a  travelling star representing the Snake,   the clash will also trigger air and sea and fire disasters . So for people having such Rat and Horse clash in their Four Pillars, it is good to refrain from travelling direct towards the S direction of Tai Sui.  It is also good to beware of traffic accidents. It is necessary to carry the pendant of a Goat as protection to attract the Horse away.  For people who are under clash with the year, it is ok to travel more, making changes such as moving house, or change job. 

 

The animals combining with the Horse year is the Goat.  the tiger and the Dog.. These animals are into a year of harmony. However, such animal astrology is not totally reliable as the system is not recognized as a formal type of fortune-telling. For more reliable assessment of one’s fortune in the year of the Hors, it is recommended that one checks the full Four Pillars of Destiny, which requires full birth data information of the Year, Month, Day and Hour of birth.  As the animal signs can appear in all four pillars in a person’s birth data, the clash and penalty relationship with the Horse will not only cause impact on people born in the year of  Horse and Rat. Such clash and penalties can also impact anyone who has such animals in the birth month, or day or hour.

 

Some examples of famous people born in the year of the Horse and offending the Grand Duke are Angela Merkel, Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart, Hu Jin Tao, Erdogan, Kiefer Sutherland ……. There are people born in the year of  Rat so they are in clash against the Horse year, these people include Prince Harry, Mark Zuckerberg, Emperor Naruhito, Robert Plant….  .There are people not born in year of Rat but they are born in a day of Rat,   they will also face a challenging year especially in relationship aspect.  Some examples of these people are  Prince Harry, Jennifer Lawrence, Terry Gou,….. The clash or penalty against the Day Pillar will usually cause movement or conflict in the family or human relationship area, especially in the relationship with the spouse or opposite sex.  

 

Feng Shui energies also change from year to year. Therefore, it is necessary to watch out for the re-allocation of good and bad energies at the beginning of each year, so that we can take necessary precautions if some bad energy happens to arrive at important locations of our residence or offices. In the year of the Horse, the bad energy called “Five Yellow” – symbolizing obstacles and misfortune, arrives at the South. It is recommended that one hangs a metal wind chime in the South side of the house, to dissolve this bad energy. The worst months will be in March, September and December 2026.      Another bad star number 2, symbolizing sickness, will arrive in the North-west in 2026. The traditional method to dissolve this 2 is to hang a string of six metal coins in the affected area in the North-west of the house.  The Grand Duke this year is in the South, hence it is not favorable to “move earth” or make substantial construction work in this direction. It is also not recommended for one to sit with back against North  as you will be sitting against the unfavorable energy called “Three Shars” or “Three Killings”.  The North  is also  the “Crash position” against the Grand Duke which is also not good to sit.   The bad star 3 is a star of conflict and robbery. This is present in the West. It is necessary to put a piece of red paper in this position to minimize such bad influence. Also the bad star 7, representing scandals is in the South-west , the traditional solution for this bad star 7 is to place 3 piece of bamboo plant grown in clear glass vase of water in the South-west  location.

 

The strong fire of 2026 is not favorable to both Zelensky and Putin, so both will be under pressure to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Also regarding the Israel Palestine war, the fire element is not favorable to President Netanyahu of Israel so the year of Horse may affect his future political position. The clash between Horse and Rat in Prince Harry’s day pillar could also affect his relationship with wife…