What to Expect From the Year of the Horse

The coming year is the year of the horse – or, more precisely, the year of the blue wooden horse, as many Russians would tell you. Green, blue and yellow are all supposed to be lucky colors to wear, and lucky foods include fish and caviar - which may be particularly fortuitous, since these are traditional Russian New Year's Eve foods anyway.

"Herring in a fur coat" will be on nearly every holiday table, along with red caviar and jellied fish.

Technically, the Chinese New Year doesn't start until Jan. 31, 2014. But Russians like to welcome the coming year's animal a bit earlier, during their Dec. 31 New Year's Eve party, adapting the Chinese tradition to the Russian style.

The year of the wooden horse is supposed to be a temperamental one, so if you feel like horsing around during the upcoming festivities, that may be particularly fitting this year. Just be careful with the fireworks: Setting something on fire or upsetting a police officer would be backing the wrong horse.