Horses represent one of the many wild animals you will encounter in your journeys through Minecraft. This guide will show you exactly how to tame and breed horses to produce offspring for your stable.
What is the best way to breed a horse in Minecraft?
To breed horses in Minecraft, you first need to locate and tame two of them in the wild. Horses are most commonly found in the Plains biome.
- Read more: How to Get Honeycomb in Minecraft
If you are struggling to find a horse, you can always use cheats to summon a horse or use a spawn egg.
How to make a saddle in Minecraft
Saddles are necessary to tame horses. They are not craftable and instead are obtainable as a “treasure” item found in chests at the following locations:
- Dungeon
- Ancient City
- Bastion remnant
- Desert temple
- End city
- Jungle temple
- Nether fortress
- Stronghold
- Village
You can also obtain saddles from fishing with a base chance of 0.8%.
Master-level leatherworker villagers can sell saddles for 6 emeralds at a 50% chance. This trade is always available in the Java Edition of the game.
Lastly, saddles are obtainable from mob loot in the following ways:
- Any mob equipped with a saddle by the player will drop a saddle upon death.
- Striders may spawn with the zombified piglin status, which makes them appear wearing saddles. They always drop the saddle upon death.
- Ravagers always spawn with saddles, dropping them upon death each time.
How to tame a horse in Minecraft
Begin by selecting an empty slot in your hotbar to free your character’s hands, as they are necessary to tame horses. To tame the horse, you need to make several attempts to mount it before getting kicked off.
Controls to tame horses in Minecraft depend on your version of the game.
- Right-click on the horse (PC/Mac, Windows 10 Edition, Education Edition)
- Hover over the horse with your pointer, then press the Mount button (Pocket Edition).
- Press the LT button (Xbox 360 / Xbox One).
- Press the ZL button (Wii U / Nintendo Switch).
- Press the L2 button (PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 4).
Every time you get knocked off the horse, attempt to mount it again. After each attempt, the horse will allow you to sit on it longer before bucking you off.
Eventually, you can sit on the horse. However, you will not be able to control its movement until you place a saddle on it.
How to put a saddle on a horse in Minecraft
Once you have tamed the horse, equip the saddle to your hotbar and select it. Controls to put a saddle on a horse in Minecraft depend on your version of the game.
- Right-click on the horse to mount it, then press E to open your inventory (PC/Mac, Windows 10 Edition, Education Edition).
- Hover over the horse with your pointer, then press the Mount button. Once on, tap on the button containing 3 dots to open your inventory, then tap on the saddle icon (Pocket Edition).
- Press the LT button to mount the horse, then press Y to open your inventory (Xbox 360 / Xbox One).
- Press the L2 button to mount the horse, then press Triangle to open your inventory (PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 4).
- Press the ZL button to mount the horse, then press X to open your inventory (Wii U / Nintendo Switch).
This should open a window displaying your horse’s current equipment. Simply move the saddle from the hotbar to the matching icon to the left of the horse’s picture.
Once you move the saddle to the box, you will witness your horse change its appearance now that it is wearing a saddle. Close the window, return to the game, and now see it walking around wearing the saddle.
How to mount a horse in Minecraft
Once you have tamed and placed a saddle on a wild horse, you can begin riding it and controlling its movements. Controls to mount a horse in Minecraft depend on your version of the game.
- Right-click on the horse (PC/Mac, Windows 10 Edition, Education Edition).
- Hover over the horse with your pointer, then press the Mount button (Pocket Edition).
- Press the LT button (Xbox 360 / Xbox One).
- Press the L2 button (PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 4).
- Press the ZL button (Wii U / Nintendo Switch)
You will mount and start riding on the horse. Moving on top of a horse uses the same controls that you use to move your character.
How to breed horses in Minecraft
Repeat the above process a second time to tame and saddle two horses. Bring them to a location in which they can stay together. It’s recommended to use a stable, but you can keep them in any secluded area where they remain close.
The two horses must be fed a single Golden Apple or Golden Carrot each. This activates “love mode” for both horses, which makes them mate and produce a foal. It’s the same process for other animals like axolotls, bees, foxes, and goats.
How to get Golden Apples and Golden Carrots in Minecraft
Golden Apples and Golden Carrots are some of the best items in the game, and you will need one of the two in order to breed horses in Minecraft. Both are craftable and obtainable from chests. However, we recommend crafting them.
The crafting recipe for a Golden Apple requires 8x Gold Ingot and 1x Apple.
The crafting recipe for a Golden Carrot requires 8x Gold Ingot and 1x Carrot.
