Welcome to the definitive guide on mastering equestrian skills in the blocky world of Minecraft. Horses are more than just a scenic addition to your world; they’re a fast, efficient, and fun way to travel across vast landscapes. Taming and training your own steed is a rewarding experience that transforms how you explore. This guide will walk you through every step, from finding your first wild horse to breeding a whole stable. Learning minecraft how to train a horse is a fundamental skill for any serious adventurer, making those long journeys a breeze. Let’s saddle up and get started!
Step 1: Finding Your Future Companion
Before you can train a horse, you need to find one. Horses naturally spawn in specific biomes, so you won’t find them lurking in a dark oak forest or a snowy tundra. Your best bet is to search in Plains and Savanna biomes. These open, grassy areas are the primary habitats for horse herds.
Herds typically consist of two to six horses, often with varied colors and patterns, including brown, white, black, and chestnut. Once you spot a herd, you can approach them. They are passive mobs, meaning they won’t attack you, but they might move away leisurely as you get close. Choose the one whose coat you like best—color has no effect on its stats, but everyone wants a cool-looking horse!
Step 2: The Taming Process: Earning Their Trust
Taming a horse in Minecraft is a test of patience. Unlike other animals, you don’t use a specific food item to tame them initially. The key is to repeatedly mount the horse until it accepts you as its rider.
How to Tame the Horse
- Approach the Horse: Walk up to the horse you’ve chosen. Make sure your main hand is empty. If you are holding an item, you might accidentally hit the horse.
- Mount the Horse: Right-click (or use the secondary action button on your controller) on the horse to jump onto its back.
- Stay On: The first few times you do this, the wild horse will likely buck you off after a few seconds. Don’t be discouraged! This is part of the process.
- Repeat: Immediately get back on the horse after it throws you. You’ll need to do this several times. Each attempt increases your chance of successfully taming it.
You’ll know you’ve successfully tamed the horse when red hearts appear around it. At this point, the horse will no longer buck you off. Congratulations, you’ve tamed your first horse!
Step 3: Gearing Up: Saddle and Armor
A tamed horse is a good start, but you can’t control its movements without a saddle. This is where many new players get stuck, as the crafting recipe for a saddle might seem elusive.
Finding a Saddle
Here’s the catch: you cannot craft a saddle in survival Minecraft. Instead, you must find one through exploration and luck. Look for saddles in the following locations:
- Chests: Dungeons, desert temples, jungle temples, Nether fortresses, and village chests (especially in blacksmith and tannery buildings) are great places to find them.
- Fishing: Believe it or not, you can catch a saddle as a “treasure” item while fishing. It’s a rare catch, but possible.
- Trading: Master-level Leatherworker villagers may offer to sell you a saddle for emeralds.
Once you have a saddle, approach your tamed horse and open its inventory by right-clicking it. Place the saddle in the designated saddle slot. Now you can ride and control your horse!
Equipping Horse Armor
While you’re looting chests, you might also find horse armor. This item protects your horse from damage, which is incredibly useful when traveling through hostile territory. Horse armor comes in iron, gold, and diamond variants. Like saddles, it cannot be crafted. To equip it, simply open the horse’s inventory and place the armor in its specific slot.
Step 4: Riding and Controlling Your Horse
With your horse saddled up, you’re ready to ride! Mount your horse and use the standard movement controls (WASD on keyboard) to direct it. You’ll notice horses are much faster than sprinting and can jump over obstacles.
To jump, hold down the jump key. A bar will appear on your screen, indicating the power of your jump. The longer you hold the key, the higher and farther your horse will leap. A fully charged jump can clear fences and even small ravines. Horses also automatically step up one-block-high inclines, making travel much smoother.
A player riding a white Minecraft horse fully equipped with a saddle and diamond horse armor across a savanna biome.
Step 5: How to Breed Horses
Once you have two tamed horses, you can breed them to create a foal. Breeding allows you to combine the stats of two parent horses, potentially creating a faster or healthier offspring.
The Breeding Process
- Gather the Right Food: To get horses into “love mode,” you need either Golden Apples or Golden Carrots. Golden Carrots are generally easier to obtain, as they only require gold nuggets and a carrot.
- Feed the Horses: Hold the Golden Apple or Golden Carrot and right-click on two tamed horses that are close to each other. Hearts will appear over their heads.
- Wait for the Foal: The two horses will turn to face each other, and a small foal will appear shortly after. This foal will be untamed, but it will grow into an adult that you can tame yourself. You can speed up its growth by feeding it apples, wheat, or hay bales.
The new foal’s stats (health, speed, and jump height) are determined by an average of its parents’ stats plus a random third value. This means you can selectively breed your best horses to create superior steeds over time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What do horses eat in Minecraft?
To heal a horse, you can feed it sugar, wheat, apples, or hay bales. To breed them, you must use Golden Apples or Golden Carrots.
How do I tie a horse up?
You need a Lead. You can craft a Lead from string and a slimeball. Right-click the horse with the Lead to attach it, and then right-click a fence post to tie the horse to it. This prevents it from wandering off.
Can you put a chest on a horse?
No, you cannot put a chest on a regular horse. However, you can put chests on Donkeys and Mules, which are related equestrian mobs that you can also tame and ride.
How do I check a horse’s stats?
In survival mode, there’s no easy way to see exact numbers. You have to gauge its speed, jump height, and health (by counting its hearts when riding) through observation and comparison with other horses.
Do horses need water or to be stabled?
No, horses in Minecraft are very low-maintenance. They do not require food, water, or shelter to survive. They will not despawn as long as they are tamed or tied with a lead.
Conclusion
Training a horse in Minecraft is an essential skill that opens up the world for faster and more exciting exploration. It begins with finding a horse in the wild plains, earning its trust through patience, and gearing it up with a saddle you’ve adventured to find. From there, you can ride across continents, leap over canyons, and even breed a lineage of superior steeds. Mastering the art of handling horses will fundamentally change your gameplay, turning long, tedious journeys into thrilling rides. Now that you know how to train a horse, go out there and find your perfect four-legged companion
