戊午, the Horse with ground
The Earth Horse
The Horse with ground under it. The steadiest of the five, the run that arrives instead of merely starting.
Start here
What is the Earth Horse?
The Earth Horse, 戊午 (wù-wǔ), is the Horse of 1918 and 1978, the sign's motion set on the Earth stem. It is read as the steadiest of the five Horses, the one whose run holds its line and finishes, earth being the phase that grounds and gathers what the other phases set in motion.
The temperament
How the element reads on the Horse
Earth is the phase that holds. The Earth Horse keeps the sign's drive and adds a floor under it, so the run finishes where the others might scatter. Steady is the word, and steady is rare in a sign built to bolt.
The 1978 Earth Horses turned that into staying power. Kobe Bryant won five titles across two decades with one team. John Legend gathered every award there is to gather. Zoe Saldaña anchored four of the highest-grossing films ever made. The ground held long enough for the work to compound.
The years
When the Earth Horse ran
- 1918. February 11, 1918 to January 31, 1919.
- 1978. February 7, 1978 to January 27, 1979.
2026 is not this Horse. It is the Fire Horse, the doubled one. Read the year at the Year of the Fire Horse.
The people
Earth Horses on the record
Earth Horse, 1978
- Zoe Saldaña. Born June 19, 1978. actress in four of the highest-grossing films ever made.
- Kobe Bryant. Born August 23, 1978. five NBA championships, all with the Los Angeles Lakers.
- John Legend. Born December 28, 1978. singer and songwriter, an EGOT winner.
Across both zodiacs
The Earth Horse and the Sun signs
The element sets the year. The Sun sign sets the animal. A Earth Horse born under one sign meets a different creature on our grid than one born under another, and the twelve Horse-year crossings each have a name. Three of them: Flamingo, the Libra HorseSailfish, the Aquarius HorseSwift, the Gemini Horse.
See the sign itself in the Year of the Horse, cross it with your own Western sign, or read the other Horses through the Fire Horse hub.
Keep reading
More of the Fire Horse hub
Back to the hub. Read the Year of the Fire Horse.
This hub sits inside the evergreen Year of the Horse. See the whole grid at the twelve animals, or find your own year.