How to Tame a Horse in Minecraft

Last Updated: April 20, 2020 References

Horses are one of the fastest ways to move around your Minecraft world. Once you've found them, all you need to do is right-click the horse and keep trying to ride it until it gives in. To use it as a mount, mobile storage chest, or way to breed more horses, you'll need to read the details below.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Taming Horses on a Computer or Console

1
Find a saddle (optional). You don't technically need a saddle to tame a horse. You do need a saddle to ride the horse after you've tamed it, though. If you skip this step, you'll still be able to lead the horse around and breed it, and sit on its back without controlling it.
- Saddles cannot be crafted. You can find saddles in naturally appearing treasure chests, get them by trading with villagers.^{[1]
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  Research source} You can find them by fishing as well, but they will show up only about 1 in 120 tries with an ordinary fishing rod.^{[2]
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2
Find the horse. Horses will only spawn in Savanna or Plains biomes.^{[3]
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Research source} These are mostly flat, grassy areas with a few scattered trees. Horses come in several different colors and have slight pattern differences as well.
- Donkeys are found in the same locations. They are smaller than horses and have longer ears. They are tamed in the same way, though there are other differences explained below.
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3
Interact with the horse with an empty hand. Select an empty spot on your hotbar, so you are not holding anything. Right-click the horse to move onto its back.
- On consoles, use the basic control for interacting with objects.
4
Repeat until the horse is tamed. The first time you try to ride the horse, it will almost always buck and kick your character off. Just keep getting back on; each time you try the chance of succeeding is higher. Eventually, a swarm of hearts will appear around the horse. This means it is tamed.^{[4]
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Research source} Keep reading to learn how to control the horse.
- You have roughly a 5% chance of taming on your second try, and can usually tame a horse within six attempts.^{[5]
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  Research source} You might get unlucky and have to try several more times, though.
5
Feed the horse to increase the chance of taming it. This is usually unnecessary, but try it if the horse keeps throwing you and you get frustrated. Just hold the food in your hand and right-click the horse. This will use up your food, but make future taming attempts easier.^{[6]
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- Each unit of sugar, apple, and wheat helps a little, adding another 3% to your chances.
- Golden carrots add another 5% chance, and golden apples add a 10% chance. You might want to save these for breeding, however, as described below.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using the Horse

1
Attach a saddle to ride the horse. Hold the saddle and right-click the horse to put it on. When you get on a saddled horse (or donkey), you'll be able to move around with the usual controls.
- Horses can jump much higher and farther than your character. Hold down the jump button to charge up a bigger jump.^{[7]
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- To dismount, press the left Shift key on a computer, or the right trigger button on a console.
2
Lead the horse around. Use a lead (leash) on the horse to tie it to your hand. The horse will now follow you around. While holding the horse, use the lead on a fence post to tie the horse to it. To detach the lead without tying the horse to anything, use the lead a second time on the horse.^{[8]
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- To make a lead, hunt for slimes (hostile green cubes) underground or in dark swamps, and kill them to get slimeballs. Craft a lead by placing a slimeball in the center of the crafting table, then adding string to the top left, top center, middle left, and bottom right squares. (Kill spiders to get string.)
3
Equip your horses and donkeys. The main difference between horses and donkeys is what you can equip onto them. While riding the animal, open your inventory to see their equipment slots:
- Horses can wear armor, protecting them from damage. You'll need special horse armor, which you can only find in treasure chests or by trading with villagers.^{[9]
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- Donkeys can hold a chest, which you can store items in as usual.^{[10]
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4
Breed horses. Feed two nearby horses golden apples or golden carrots. They will approach each other, and a small foal will appear. The foal cannot be tamed until it grows up, which takes about twenty minutes. You can speed up the growth by feeding it non-golden food.^{[11]
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- Craft a golden apple by placing an apple in the center of the crafting area, then surrounding it with eight golden ingots.
- Craft a golden carrot with a carrot at the center, surrounded by gold nuggets.
- Breed a horse and donkey together to make a mule. Mules carry chests like donkeys, but cannot breed with any other animal.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Taming Horses in Minecraft Pocket Edition

1
Install a horse mod. Horses do not exist in the current version of Minecraft PE, although they may be added in a future update. Learn how using this guide to installing mods, if you've never tried it before. (Note that this can be difficult or impossible on some versions of iOS.) You can search for horse mods on your own, or look up the mods named "Horses" created by Argll or Bernard.^{[12]
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- Download mods at your own risk. They may contain viruses that infect your phone. The above examples have worked for some users, but this is not a guarantee that they are safe.
2
Download texture packs. If your horses are all-black or look like cows, you'll need to download a texture pack as well. Check the website where you downloaded the mod, and look for a link to a texture pack. Once downloaded, restart Minecraft to see your horses in full color.
3
Find out how to tame the horses. Because each mod is created by users, there is no standard way to tame horses. In some mods, you feed the horse wheat to tame it. In others, you might just interact with it using an empty hand. The creator usually posts these details somewhere on their website.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I tame horses in Minecraft Pocket Edition?

Community Answer

If you're in the latest version, you are supposed to feed them an apple. Keep feeding them until they are tamed. You know if they are tamed when they let you ride them without falling.
Question

Where can I find apples?

Community Answer

They drop when leaves from trees are broken or die - leaves die if there is no log block in a certain radius, I think it's four blocks in every direction.
Question

How do I get to the villages?

Community Answer

I suggest reading wikiHow's article on finding a village in Minecraft for some tips.

Warnings

The console version of Minecraft has a bug that can cause horses to disappear. Take saddles, armor, and chests off the horses when you return them to their pen, or these items may disappear along with them. Keeping animals in a larger pen or a dirt pit may reduce the chance of this happening.

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