庚午, the Horse of iron will
The Metal Horse
The Horse with a will of iron. The hardest of the five to turn, once it has chosen the line.
Start here
What is the Metal Horse?
The Metal Horse, 庚午 (gēng-wǔ), is the Horse of 1930 and 1990, the sign's drive set on the Metal stem. It is read as the hardest of the five Horses to turn, its will set like iron once a direction is chosen, metal being the phase of edges, resolve, and things that do not bend easily.
The temperament
How the element reads on the Horse
Metal takes an edge and holds it. The Metal Horse keeps the sign's motion and hardens the will behind it, so once the line is chosen it is slow to bend. The others can be talked around. This one, less so.
The 1930 Metal Horses set that resolve against long odds. Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon. Clint Eastwood is still directing across a career of five decades. The 1990 Metal Horses carry the same edge, from Emma Watson to Jennifer Lawrence to Margot Robbie. The Weeknd sits twenty days past the boundary, which is what keeps him a Horse and not a Snake.
The years
When the Metal Horse ran
- 1930. January 30, 1930 to February 16, 1931.
- 1990. January 27, 1990 to February 14, 1991.
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
Metal Horses on the record
Metal Horse, 1930
- Clint Eastwood. Born May 31, 1930. actor and director, four Academy Awards across five decades of work.
- Neil Armstrong. Born August 5, 1930. the first person to walk on the Moon, July 1969.
Metal Horse, 1990
- The Weeknd. Born February 16, 1990. born twenty days after the lunar boundary, so the Horse holds him; a January birthday that year belongs to the Snake.
- Emma Watson. Born April 15, 1990. actress, Hermione Granger across all eight Harry Potter films.
- Margot Robbie. Born July 2, 1990. actress and producer, three Academy Award nominations.
- Jennifer Lawrence. Born August 15, 1990. the second-youngest Best Actress winner in Academy history.
Across both zodiacs
The Metal Horse and the Sun signs
The element sets the year. The Sun sign sets the animal. A Metal 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: Albatross, the Sagittarius HorsePronghorn, the Aries HorseParadise Riflebird, the Leo 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.