Wild Horses
March 30, 2026
Writer: Alana Frank
Editor: Madison Freshour
If the year 2025 has been unkind to you so far, and the feelings of unproductiveness and sluggishness have consumed you, that’s fine. You were still shedding your past self and molting the dead energy away. For that was the year of the snake, and now, you get to welcome the year of the horse.
My family always celebrates Lunar New Year with egg rolls, homemade noodles, and dumpling soup. Wearing red was a nonnegotiable, and if you even thought about washing your hair that day, you were in for a big one. As a proud Dog zodiac, I would always hope that my fortune would be better than my siblings, with promises of good luck and success. Coming to college, the homesickness has always worsened around February, as I longed for my mom’s golden butter mochi and the smell of chili oil. However, I find comfort in embracing all the fortune that the year of the horse will bring, even if I am away from my mom’s home cooking.
This lunar new year also happens to be a fire horse, which is a time associated with intense energy, passion, and change. There is a lot of strength for all zodiacs in the year of the horse, but also actions to avoid. Don’t make impulsive decisions and go all in with no direction. Cherish independence, but don’t enter a reality of closed-off energy. The horse wants to roam free, but needs to choose whom to move forward with this year. For my fellow “Dogs”, career and wealth take center stage during the year of the horse. Love and relationships take a quieter rhythm, but opportunities still linger if you open your heart. The Horse acts as a supportive ally for the Dog, meaning it is important to embrace your naturally loyal and reliable nature while also taking risks when needed. For me, that’s a lot easier said than done. Horses are fearless, and that trait can be fleeting for some, myself included.
War Horse. Spirit. American Pharaoh. Black Beauty. My little Pony. That’s where my mind goes when I hear the year of the horse. It’s time to take the reins and move forward to where you want to be in life. Horses keep going. They hit the ground running, even if it’s into fear or danger. That’s what it means to be a horse. Courageous. It is time to say goodbye to the snake bite and shed the past. Keep pushing forward through the mud, the obstacles, and the battlefields. And there may be times when you feel like you aren’t moving, but it is important to remember that change is running freely. See yourself galloping across a never-ending meadow, accepting life as it comes. Rise to the momentum, embrace it, and claim that freedom. Take charge of your life. Run free.
