Seventh of the Twelve, the Sign of Freedom

The horse is the seventh sign of the Chinese zodiac, sitting at the midpoint of the cycle and associated with the hours around noon and, in the elemental scheme, with fire and full yang, the peak of the day and of active energy. As a birth-sign it is read for energy, sociability, independence and a love of freedom and movement, sometimes to the point of restlessness or impatience. The horse's standing in Chinese culture as the mount of officials and warriors, and as an emblem of speed and success, feeds the calendrical reading, which is among the most consistently positive of the twelve.

In Chinese art the horse achieved one of its most celebrated commemorations in the Six Steeds of Zhaoling, stone bas-relief carvings of the six warhorses ridden by the Tang emperor Taizong in the battles that founded his dynasty, carved for his tomb in the seventh century; two of the six panels were removed and are now held in the University of Pennsylvania Museum, a removal still contested by Chinese authorities. The horse's positive place in the zodiac is reinforced by this long artistic tradition of celebrating war-horses individually by name, a practice with few parallels for any other zodiac animal.