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James Marsh

Are your loved ones in luck this year? See our predictions for all the zodiac signs in the Year of the Horse.
According to the Chinese horoscope, those born in the Year of the Horse are characterised as popular, charming and active, as well as energetic and independent. In the Year of the Fire Horse, however, whose 60-year cycle returns in 2026, those traits can be amplified to become temperamental and troublesome.
Women born in Fire Horse years are said to be so strong-willed that they shorten the lives of their husbands. As a result, birth rates have historically plummeted during Fire Horse years across Asia.
In film, however, the horse has come to symbolise strength, gracefulness, agility and affluence, and the lasting bond between man and beast has been at the heart of numerous memorable films.
Below are five examples of when master and rider have come together to create great drama on the big screen.
1. Ride On (2023)


Martial arts superstar Jackie Chan plays an ageing stuntman in the twilight of his career who must come to the defence of his trusty stunt horse in this misty-eyed drama by Larry Yang Zi.
Long in the tooth but low on funds, Chan’s antique action hero is deep in debt, and Andy On Chi-kit’s unforgiving collector demands he hand over his loyal steed as compensation.
The only solution: one last hurrah in front of the cameras for the actor and his horse, in a final role that ushers in a shamelessly sentimental homage to many of Chan’s cinematic successes of yesteryear, from Dragon Lord (1982) to Police Story (1985).
2. The Horse Thief (1986)


A landmark example of China’s Fifth Generation filmmaking, director Tian Zhuangzhuang’s visually ravishing, yet profoundly intimate epic is set in the stark wilderness of the Tibetan plateau, and follows the eponymous larcenist as his criminal activities drive him and his young family into exile.
Beloved by Martin Scorsese and an obvious stylistic influence on his own 1997 film Kundun, The Horse Thief features numerous intricate stagings of Buddhist prayer ceremonies, while detailing the hardships of daily life for one of China’s most marginalised minorities, for whom the horse represents the most affluent of commodities and coveted of possessions.
3. Fearless Dragons (1980)


While not one of the better-known animal styles of kung fu, the horse style is a fundamental strength-building technique utilised in Shaolin and Hung Gar. Horse boxing is a more aggressive fighting technique, perhaps best depicted on screen by Phillip Ko Fei in the finale of Lee Chiu’s 1980 action comedy Fearless Dragons.
Rearing up, hands held high to imitate a horse’s hooves, and neighing sound effects on the soundtrack, Ko’s heroic con artist lets loose with an unbridled onslaught of attacking moves that tee up the film’s climactic three-way stand-off as partner-in-crime Leung Kar-yan joins in to defeat the film’s dastardly villain.
4. To Kill a Mongolian Horse (2024)


The very tangible and practical value of horses in indigenous cultures is brought to the fore in Jiang Xiaoxuan’s keenly observed story set on the unforgiving steppes of present-day Mongolia.
Saina is a man caught out of time, a traditional equestrian performer whose livelihood stems from elaborate, exquisitely staged recreations of the heroic exploits of his warrior forefathers.
Out of the limelight, however, Saina is saddled with a debt-ridden father, an estranged wife hounding him for child support and increasing pressure to sell his farm and stock of handsome steeds to the local butcher.
5. Eve and the Fire Horse (2005)


Writer-director Julia Kwan’s semi-autobiographical yarn is a delightful coming-of-age tale of second-generation Chinese immigrant Eve (Phoebe Kut) growing up in Vancouver with her Cantonese-speaking parents.
Born in the Year of the Fire Horse, Eve – as well as her director, Kwan – has been branded since birth as being a temperamental troublemaker.
When her mother chops down their apple tree – a bad omen – and Eve’s older sister develops a fascination for Catholicism in an otherwise devoutly Buddhist household, a whirlwind of chaos is on the horizon, with Eve fated to be held responsible.
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5 horse-themed Chinese-language movies to watch, from Jackie Chan drama to Tibetan epics

Jackie Chan in a still from Ride On, one of five films we examine that feature horses in important roles.

How Hong Kong movies The Wicked City and 2000 AD rewrote the city’s cinema rule book

Jacky Cheung in a still from The Wicked City (1992). Peter Mak’s screen adaptation of a Japanese novel about an alien invasion broke the mould of Hong Kong cinema at the time, which largely traded on gangsters and kung fu. 

A still from The Wicked City (1992).

Michelle Reis (left) and Leon Lai in a still from The Wicked City.

(From left) Phyllis Quek, Aaron Kwok and Daniel Wu in a still from 2000 AD (2000).

A still from 2000 AD (2000).

Gezhi Town movie review: Chinese war drama with Xiao Zhan dares to entertain

Xiao Zhan in a still from Gezhi Town (category IIB, Mandarin), co-starring Peng Yuchang and Zhou Yiran, and directed by Kong Sheng.

Peng Yuchang, who plays a young platoon leader in charge of a Swiss-made anti-aircraft gun, in a still from Gezhi Town.

Yang Xinming in a still from Gezhi Town.

Year of the Horse 2026 predictions for all 12 Chinese zodiac signs. Is your luck in?

Will the Year of the Horse 2026 be lucky for you? Fortune-teller Tong Pik-ha offers her comprehensive predictions for those born under all 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac. Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

How Horses can appease the tai sui in the Year of the Horse 2026, and what to watch out for

Horses will conflict with the tai sui deity in the coming Year of the Horse 2026, but there are things you can do to stave off bad luck. Photo: Shutterstock

According to Chinese geomancy, those born in the Year of the Horse will conflict with the tau sui in the coming year, bringing potentially bad luck. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

The influence of a curse star in the coming Year of the Horse means that Horses may experience misunderstandings that lead to disputes. Photo: Shutterstock

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Year of the Horse 2026: predictions, facts, myths and feng shui

Lunar New Year traditions and customs for each day of the holiday, from food to haircuts

On the eve of Lunar New Year, it is traditional to hold a family reunion dinner. Photo: Getty Images

Families traditionally decorate their home on the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve. Photo: Getty Images

The Kitchen God returns to the Jade Emperor on the second day of Lunar New Year, and families traditionally hold a symbolic reunion dinner to send him off. Photo: Shutterstock

Lucky red packets, known as hong bao in Mandarin and lai see in Cantonese, are given by elders to children and younger people. Photo: Shutterstock

10 great Lunar New Year food and drink gifts in Hong Kong for Year of the Horse gatherings

Hong Kong hotel Cordis’ Ming Court Deluxe Chinese New Year Hamper is one of the many great gifts you can buy for friends or family members ahead of your next Lunar New Year gathering. Photo: Cordis

Tea WG’s Red Horse Tea. Photo: Tea WG

Laderach’s Year of the Horse limited-edition chocolate boxes. Photo: Laderach

Lady M’s Year of the Horse Gift Set includes crêpe biscuits, a bag charm and red envelopes. Photo: Lady M

Mala Meow’s three-jar Lunar New Year gift set. Photo: Mala Meow

Lucullus’ Blessing Knock Chocolate & Cookie Gift Box includes popping-candy chocolates, butter cookies, crisps and almonds. Photo: Lucullus

Martell’s Year of the Horse cognacs come in packaging featuring calligraphy and horse motifs. Photo: Martell

Penfolds’ Lunar New Year 2026 Grange special edition comes in a special gift box.

The Snowball on a Sunny Day movie review: family comedy doubles as a love letter to cinema

Chung Suet-ying (left) and Edan Lui in a still from The Snowball on a Sunny Day.

(From left) Jiro Lee, Chung Suet-ying and Harriet Yeung in a still from The Snowball on a Sunny Day (category: IIB, Cantonese), directed by Philip Yung.


Elaine Jin as Mui the grandmother in a still from The Snowball on a Sunny Day.

(From left) Edan Lui, Harriet Yeung, Marek Li, Jiro Lee, Chung Suet-ying and Elaine Jin in a still from The Snowball on a Sunny Day.

What common Lunar New Year snacks in China, Singapore and Malaysia symbolise

A tray of Lunar New Year snacks. Many Chinese communities enjoy the same festive favourites at this time of year, but places such as Singapore and Malaysia also gorge on regional treats shaped by foreign influences and migration. Photo: Getty Images

Candied winter melon is a Lunar New Year favourite snack that represents a “sweet start” to the year. Photo: Shutterstock

Bak kwa is a sweet-savoury barbecued meat jerky synonymous with Lunar New Year in Singapore and Malaysia. Photo: Shutterstock

Pineapple tarts were absorbed into Lunar New Year traditions in Singapore and Malaysia because the Minnan word for pineapple, ong lai, sounds exactly like “prosperity comes”. Photo: Shutterstock

How Rabbits can appease the tai sui in the Year of the Horse 2026, and what to watch out for

Rabbits will conflict with the tai sui deity in the Year of the Horse, but there are things you can do to head off bad luck. Photo: Shutterstock

Positive stars will bring celebratory events for Rabbits in the Year of the Horse, such as the birth of a child. Photo: Shutterstock

Why the Year of the Horse 2026 could bring chaos but also great progress

The Year of the Fire Horse begins on February 17, 2026. Being a “double fire” year, it could mean drastic change ahead. Photo: Shutterstock

2026 will mark the first Year of the Fire Horse since 1966. Photo: Shutterstock

A squad of Red Guards rally in Beijing in 1966 at the beginning of China’s Cultural Revolution. Photo: AFP

England’s national football team captain Bobby Moore holds the Jules Rimet trophy as he is carried by his teammates following England’s victory over Germany in the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley Stadium in London. Photo: AFP

Year of the Horse 2026: 5 famous works of equine art through the centuries

A scene from War Horse, performed at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2019. The award-winning British play is one of many artworks made over the centuries with a strong equine focus. Photo: Winson Wong

One Hundred Horses, by Giuseppe Castiglione. Photo: Taiwan National Palace Museum

The cover of a modern edition of Anna Sewell’s 1887 novel. Photo: Amazon

A visitor takes a photo of Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse’s Napoleon at the Great St. Bernard (1807), modelled after Jacques-Louis David’s original from his Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1801-1805) series, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, in May 2025. Photo: Jelly Tse

The British play War Horse won recognition for the life-size horse puppets it featured that were operated by three puppeteers working in tandem. Photo: Winson Wong

Hong Kong actor and singer Hins Cheung (right) performs in a scene from Equus. Peter Shaffer’s 1973 play about a troubled teenager with an erotic fixation on horses is one of the darker pieces of equine art. Photo: Dionysus Contemporary Theatre

5 of the best-known horses in Chinese legend, from the Red Hare to qilin

Warlord Lu Bu and his famous horse Red Hare are depicted in the 2013 video game Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends.

Horse-Face (right) and Ox-Head are guardians of the underworld in Chinese folklore. Photo: Zhihu

A stone sculpture of a horse stands near the entrance to the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, in China’s Henan province. Photo: May Tse

The daughter and her horse from a story in the Chinese folk legend collection In Search of the Supernatural. Photo: Baidu

Colourful qilin decorate the roof of a Chinese temple. Photo: Shutterstock

Mongolia’s child jockeys are key to its nomadic heritage, but are they in danger?

Horse rider Dolgorsuren Batoyun (centre) is pictured as a child. Now grown up, the first woman member of Mongolia’s national polo team looks back fondly on the “cultures and customs” her father (right) taught her. Photo: Dominique Backhouse

Genghis Khan Retreat director D’Artagnan Giercke is pictured as a child. Photo: Dominique Backhouse

Dorjpalam Battumur, known as Palam, is a member of the Mongolian national polo team who started horse racing at the age of four. Photo: Dominique Backhouse

Batoyun is pictured riding a horse as a child. Photo: Dominique Backhouse

Tourists enjoy horseback riding near the iconic Turtle Rock outcrop at the Gorkhi Terelj National Park outside Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Photo: AP

People play polo in Mongolia. Photo: Ghenghis Khan Retreat

Batoyun (right) with her husband and son. In recent years, she has observed changes in laws and regulations that are “better for both jockeys and the horses”. Photo: Dominique Backhouse

How Hong Kong horse riding charity’s equine therapy helps people with disabilities

An instructor for Hong Kong’s Riding for the Disabled Association guides a child on a horse. The non-profit organisation teaches disabled children and some adults to ride a horse to the best of their ability. Photo: RDA

Students ride horses guided by instructors from the Riding for the Disabled Association at the Pokfulam Public Riding School. Photo: RDA

Joelle Scott has been working with the RDA for 30 years. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Scott demonstrates how to ride on a horse model. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Former RDA student Chi Tat (centre) recently returned to work as a volunteer. Photo: RDA

What is horse oil and why is it a popular skin treatment in East Asia?

Horse oil has been used for centuries to treat burned and chapped skin, and later as a beauty product. Photo: Shutterstock

Basashi (horse sushi) in Kumamoto, Japan. Horse oil products are widely available in Japan, where horse meat is eaten. Photo: Sam Evans

Horse oil cream has a lighter, less greasy consistency than creams derived from other animal fats. Photo: Charmzone

Horse oil is a popular traditional product, but a dermatology expert does not recommend its use to her patients because of a lack of research. Photo: Getty Images

New Hong Kong restaurant Yurt brings Kazakhstan’s horsemeat tradition to the city

A variety of dishes at Yurt, including beshbarmak (top left). Photo: Yurt

The beshbarmak – boiled horsemeat served with noodles – at Yurt is made with beef instead of the traditional horsemeat, but it can be upgraded to kazy, seasoned horsemeat sausage. The new restaurant in SoHo, Hong Kong, gives visitors a taste of Central Asia. Photo: Yurt

(From left) Yurt founder Ali Nuraly, head of communications Xeniya Tregubenko and executive chef Marat Zakaryayev. Photo: Yurt

Baursak is a traditional fried dough served with a dip of sour cream and honey. Photo: Lisa Cam

How My Little Pony collectible trading cards took China by storm

My Little Pony trading cards have become hugely popular across China, with fans hoping to find rare cards in packs.

A selection of My Little Pony collectible cards.

People play a game of My Little Pony with the cards. 

A My Little Pony display in Shanghai. Photo: SCMP

What is the horse pose in yoga? Only ‘3 out of 10 students’ can do it, instructor says

A yoga practitioner performs horse pose. Also known as horse face pose or vatayanasana, it is a very advanced posture in yoga that can boost hip mobility and strength. Photo: Shutterstock

Yoga instructor Carrie Pun demonstrates horse pose. Photo: Carrie Pun

How Chinese artist Xu Beihong’s horse paintings have galloped through history

The Three Stallions, by Xu Beihong. The piece is just one example of the many horse paintings that Xu was known for.

Two Galloping Horses (1941), by Xu Beihong. Photo: courtesy of Bonhams

Five Galloping Horses, by Xu Beihong, is seen at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2015. 

Slave and Lion (1924), by Xu Beihong, is displayed during a Christie’s auction preview in Hong Kong in 2006.

Two Horses On Hillside, early 1900s, by Xu Beihong. Photo: Getty Images

Standing Horse (1953), by Xu Beihong.

7 successful people born in the Year of the Horse from Jackie Chan to Ang Lee and Lu Han

Jackie Chan, famous for his stunts and martial arts films, was born in 1954, the Year of the Horse. Photo: Golden Harvest

Brigitte Lin was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 60th Golden Horse Awards in Taipei in 2023. Photo: CNA

Jackie Chan carries the Olympic torch through the Archaeological Park in Pompeii, Italy, on December 22, 2025. Photo: AP

Tu Youyou was a joint winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for her work on artemisinin in the fight against malaria. Photo: Xinhua

Director Ang Lee poses for photos at the 61st Golden Horse Awards in Taipei in 2024. Photo: Reuters

Leon Lai Ming, one of the “Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop”, was awarded the Medal of Honour for his charity work. Photo: Instagram/leonlaifansclub

Lu Han, a former member of K-pop group Exo, is a social media star in China. Photo: Weibo

Zheng Qinwen during a women’s singles match during the China Open at the National Tennis Centre in Beijing, China, in September 2025. Photo: AP

The Chinese cowboys challenging American Old West narratives through art and self-discovery

Self-professed Chinese cowboy Bruce Wang Shibo stands with a horse. The Chinese national is one of those rewriting narratives of the American West. Photo: Bruce Wang Shibo

A piece from Kenneth Tam’s Silent Spikes exhibition. Photo: Christian Carroll

Wang did not intend to stay in the US forever, but has settled in Texas. Photo: Bruce Wang Shibo

A Korean horsehair underskirt sparked a fashion frenzy in China during the Ming dynasty

Ming Emperor Xianzong’s Tour of the Lantern Festival is a painting that depicts Emperor Chenghua in 1485 with eunuchs and palace maids portrayed wearing skirts that look like umbrellas spread out. South Korean researcher Koo Do-young proposes that they are wearing mamigun, the Korean originator to the Chinese maweiqun.

Visitors dressed in traditional Korean attire at the Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main royal palace during the Joseon dynasty, in Seoul, South Korea, in 2019. Photo: AP

A Korean woman poses with her daughter in traditional hanbok dress, c. 1910. The mamigun was the Korean originator to the underskirt that both rose to fame and died in infamy during the Ming dynasty. Photo: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

A section from the painting Beauties in History, attributed to the Ming dynasty artist Qiu Ying. Korean fashion became popular among wealthy Chinese people during Emperor Chenghua’s reign (1465-1487). Photo: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

A view of Jeju Island in Korea. During the Joseon period, commodities made of horsehair were mainly provided from Jeju Island. Photo: Shutterstock

3 Year of the Horse 2026 events in Hong Kong to welcome the new year with a gallop

The Longines Hong Kong International Horse Show will return to the AsiaWorld-Expo from January 30 to February 1. The 2026 event will feature competitions and entertainment as well as the chance to see impressive equine action. Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club

The Scarpa CNY Horse Tour 2026 will include multiple routes to cater to runners of all levels. Photo: Facebook/Wildtrek Trail Running Series

Bullseye from Toy Story will make an appearance at Hong Kong Disneyland from January 30 to March 1. Photo: Hong Kong Disneyland

5 horse-themed Chinese-language movies to watch, from Jackie Chan drama to Tibetan epics

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}In films, horses often symbolise strength, gracefulness and agility. Here are five Chinese-language movies where the animal plays a big role

1. Ride On (2023)

In films, horses often symbolise strength, gracefulness and agility. Here are five Chinese-language movies where the animal plays a big role