Christmas Island issued this attractive set in 2014 to celebrate the Asian Year of the Horse.

Here is the full set in miniature sheet format.

Mint unhinged, & in pristine condition.

The Horse is the seventh of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.

• There is a long tradition of the Horse in Chinese mythology. Certain characteristics of the Horse nature are supposed to be typical of or to be associated with either a year of the Horse and its events, or in regard to the personality of someone born in such a year. Horse aspects can also enter by other chronomantic factors or measures, such as hourly. The year of the horse is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol.
• People born in the Year of the Horse are considered to be intuitive & practical.
• In 663 BCE, after fighting against invaders from the north, Premier Guan Zhong's army was lost in a valley & unsure how to get home. Guan Zhong wondered if horses (like cats & dogs) could always find their way home.
• So several old horses were freed, & without hesitation, they found their way out of the valley & led the army home.

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