Three newly arrived military horses have been introduced to the public in a playful online naming drive timed to the Lunar New Year, inviting netizens to submit names and meanings that will be shortlisted and put to a vote. The call, posted on a popular military-affiliated platform ahead of the 2026 Spring Festival, pairs affectionate animal portraits with practical notes about training progress and temperament, and promises the winners will be unveiled during the military’s online New Year gala.
Each horse receives an individualized portrait designed to invite engagement. One is a chestnut with a white blaze and distinctive white-tipped hind hooves, described as aloof and promising in obstacle work; another is the smallest of a quintet of black mounts, lean and obedient, already steady in initial riding drills; the third is a bay with black mane and sturdy limbs, shy and slow to acclimatize on the plateau but noted for latent endurance. Lively details — a voracious appetite for corn and an amusing fondness for potato chips and watermelon — give the animals a personable, almost celebrity-like quality.
The initiative is straightforward: submit names and brief explanations in the comments, the organizers will select a slate of candidates, and the public will vote for names that best marry Spring Festival imagery with military spirit. The horses are slated to appear at the 2026 military camp online Spring Gala, a virtual celebration that has become a staple for institutional outreach during the holiday period.
The gesture is light in tone but not without significance. Horses have long been a potent symbol in Chinese cultural and military history, and presenting them as individual personalities performs several functions at once: it humanizes the armed forces, links contemporary troops to tradition, and channels public affection into a state-sanctioned ritual of collective participation. Doing this through social media and an online gala reflects how the armed forces now routinely combine ceremonial pageantry with digital outreach.
This is also a demonstration of the People’s Liberation Army’s communications instincts. Despite decades of mechanization, mounted units still serve ceremonial, training and logistical roles, and the optics of a friendly, well-kept animal program help cultivate a disciplined yet approachable image. The naming contest dovetails with the broader political calendar: New Year symbolism, calls for unity, and channels for patriotic expression are especially resonant during the spring festival, when national narratives about continuity and rejuvenation are amplified.
Beyond domestic symbolism, the exercise is a reminder of how soft-power gestures are produced rather than spontaneous. Cute animals are an effective vehicle to neutralize potential criticism, broaden public support, and increase visibility for the military among younger, digitally native audiences. The lighthearted detail about junk-food preferences, for instance, incentives online sharing and comments in ways that formal press releases would not.
For international observers, the episode is not strategically consequential but it is indicative of a broader trend: state institutions in China increasingly borrow from popular culture and social media techniques to shape public perceptions. Small-scale, highly shareable campaigns like a horse-naming contest are part of how the PLA manages its image at home, reinforcing narratives of professionalism, tradition and approachability as it continues its modernization program.
Watch for the voting and gala coverage: how the names are chosen and framed will reflect which national themes — from classical virtue to martial valour to festive wordplay — the institution wants to foreground this year. For now, the story is a reminder that even the most benign cultural moments can serve layered political and social purposes in contemporary China.