1990 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Metal Horse

When did the 1990 Year of the Horse start and end?

The Chinese zodiac does not change on January 1. It follows the lunisolar calendar, so each animal year starts at Lunar New Year, the second new moon after the winter solstice, which always lands between January 21 and February 20. For 1990 that date was January 27, 1990.

Because Lunar New Year (Jan 27) came before Ipchun (Feb 4) in 1990, babies born from Jan 27 to Feb 3 are Horses by the popular zodiac but still have a 己巳 (Earth Snake) year pillar in a Korean Saju or Chinese Bazi chart.

Metal Horse meaning: element, yin-yang and nayin

Every year in the 60-year cycle pairs one of ten heavenly stems with one of twelve earthly branches. 1990 is stem 庚 (Gyeong / Gēng, Yang Metal) on branch 午 (O, the Horse), number 7 of 60 in the cycle. The stem gives the year its element, which is why people say “Metal Horse” rather than just “Horse”.

Reading the element. Metal is the element of autumn and of cutting away what is unnecessary. Metal years are linked with willpower, self-discipline, loyalty and a strong sense of right and wrong. The traditional caution is rigidity: Metal can seem cool, blunt or unwilling to compromise. For a Metal year the keywords are determination, principle and clarity. The Horse itself carries Fire as its fixed element, so this year blends metal energy with fire qualities.

The nayin image. The 60 pairs also have 30 poetic “nayin” names, shared by two neighbouring years. 1990 and 1991 are Roadside Earth (路傍土), pictured as the earth along a road that everyone walks on: usefulness, modesty and a gift for supporting other people’s journeys.

The same 庚午 pair is also a Saju day pillar; see the Gyeong-O day-pillar article for how the combination is read when it appears on the day of birth.

1990 in Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese zodiac

Koreans often name the year with a colour taken from the stem element: Wood years are blue-green (청), Fire red (적), Earth yellow or golden (황), Metal white (백) and Water black (흑). That is why 1990 is called the year of the 흰 말띠 (white horse). Japan has counted eto by the Gregorian year since 1873, so in Japan everyone born in 1990 counts as uma (午, Horse) regardless of the lunar date. Vietnam uses the same animal for this year.

1990 Metal Horse personality traits (traditional)

Keywords: free-spirited, energetic, sociable, direct + determination, principle and clarity

Tradition paints the Horse as cheerful and restless: quick to act, warm in company and happiest with open space and a goal to run toward.

The horse stands at due south and at midday, the peak of yang energy. Fire Horse years carry special folklore in Japan (hinoeuma): births in Japan fell by about a quarter in 1966 because of the superstition, according to national vital statistics.

Where the Metal element shows. Tradition says the stem colours the animal: a Metal Horse is disciplined, loyal, decisive. Compared with the Earth Horse of 1978 and the Water Horse of 2002, the 1990 version is read as the most determined and principled Horse.

In love: Romantic and spontaneous, falling in love quickly; Horses need freedom and a partner who enjoys adventure. At work: At home in travel, sales, sport, media, performance, field work and fast-moving startups.

Zodiac personality descriptions are folklore. Real personality is shaped by upbringing, culture and choices, and people born in the same year differ enormously.

1990 Horse compatibility: best and worst matches

Classical compatibility looks at how the two birth-year branches relate on the zodiac wheel. Signs four places apart form a Three Harmony trine, specific pairs form a Six Harmony, and signs directly opposite each other clash. For a Horse born in 1990, the nearest-age examples are:

Korean folk matchmaking (gunghap, 궁합) also watches for wonjin (원진) pairs, said to breed resentment; for the Horse that partner is the Ox. See the full 12×12 compatibility chart or the Year of the Horse guide. A real compatibility reading in Saju compares all eight characters of both charts, not just the year animal.

Lucky numbers and colours for the 1990 Horse

Two different ideas get mixed together online. The “lucky numbers and colours” lists are a modern popular folklore that varies from one website to another. The five-element colours are older: they come from the correspondence of Wood–green, Fire–red, Earth–yellow, Metal–white and Water–black, which is also behind Korean names such as 흰 말띠. Treat both as fun cultural trivia.

2027 Year of the Fire Goat: outlook for people born in 1990

2027 is Jeongmi (丁未), the Yin Fire Goat — called the “red sheep” year (붉은 양띠) in Korea. In the Chinese calendar it begins on Feb 6, 2027 and ends on Jan 25, 2028; Korea celebrates Seollal on Feb 7, 2027 because the new moon falls just after midnight Korea time. For Saju, the year pillar changes at Ipchun on Feb 4, 2027 at about 10:46 KST. Tradition reads 2027 as a supportive year for the Metal Horse:

The Horse and Goat form a Six Harmony pair, so tradition counts 2027 as a supportive year: help from others, smoother teamwork and good timing for partnerships. Do not let the easy mood replace preparation.

Fire melts Metal, so the year’s energy "controls" your element. Tradition reads it as a year of pressure and responsibility that can bring promotion or new titles if you stay disciplined and pace yourself.

Practical, non-mystical ways to use the 2027 reading

• Use the supportive mood to start the collaboration or course you have been postponing.
• At 37, review savings, insurance and career goals with real numbers.
• Use the Saju calculator to see whether 2027 strengthens or drains your day master rather than relying on the year animal alone.

For a personalised version that uses your birth month, day and hour, see the 2027 Korean horoscope and the 2027 Year of the Goat guide.

How old is someone born in 1990? (2026 and 2027)

The 60-year cycle gives East Asian birthdays their biggest milestone: when the same stem-and-branch pair (庚午) returns, a person has completed one full cycle. In Korea this is hwangap (환갑) and in Japan kanreki; for people born in 1990 it falls in 2050. Chilsun (70th) follows in 2060 and palsun (80th) in 2070.

All Horse years and the years around 1990

The Horse returns every 12 years, but the element changes each time, so the same Metal Horse element comes back only every 60 years.

Neighbouring birth years

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