Chinese zodiac 1990
Year of the Metal Horse
27 January 1990 to 14 February 1991
Born in 1990? Your sign depends on the day
The animal changes at Lunar New Year, not on 1 January. In 1990 it falls on 27 January 1990.
- 27 January to 31 December 1990
- π Metal Horse
- and on to 14 Feb 1991
Check an exact birth date
The Metal Horse at a glance
Animal
π Horse
Said to be lively, independent, warm.
Element
ι Yang Metal
Linked with determination and order. Each element rules two years in a row.
Length
384 days
A long year: the calendar adds a thirteenth, leap month.
Other Horse years
The 60-year cycle
Animal and element line up again only every 60 years. The Metal Horse years nearest to this one are 1930 and 2050.
Who gets on with the Horse
Allies
Four years apart. The three animals of a trine are said to share a temperament.
Secret friend
One of six fixed pairs said to complement each other.
Opposite
Six years apart, directly across the wheel. Tradition calls this the hardest pairing.
Friction
One of six fixed pairs said to rub each other the wrong way.
Bonds come from each animal's position among the twelve, as tradition sets them. They describe the Horse sign in general, not any one person.
Dates are computed estimates from the Hong Kong Observatory's calendar tables, counted in China's time zone. Some traditions change the animal at the start of spring (around 4 February) instead of at Lunar New Year.