In a symbolic tradition that easily stretches back to the vibrant horse paintings in the cave art of the Ice Age, wild horses were the embodiment of power. Not until thousands of years had passed would the horse be tamed for human use. In the Chinese Zodiac, people born in the Year of the Horse are considered cheerful and perceptive, although they may talk too much. As a mighty steed, numerous characters have mounted them including the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (death, war, pestilence, and famine) from the book of Revelations, the goddess Kannon of Japan, St. George as he slays the dragon, and the Valkyrie of Norse legend on winged versions, to name but a few. They express an instinctual and unbridled energy and dynamism and yet are also intelligent and even noble.