The Dala horse is a Swedish traditional carved and painted wooden horse. It symbolises strength, faithfulness, wisdom and divinity. And in the olden days, it was a toy for children.  2014 being the Year of the Horse, it is also known as Jia-wu year in the Chinese lunar calendar (Jia represents wood while wu represents horse). The Chinese believes that wood creates fire which is an immense source of positive energy and energy brings life and thus symbolises an abundance of life. In keeping with the Dala horse and the Jia-wu spirit.