How to Tame a Horse in Minecraft

Riding horses is a great way to get around a map and look good while doing it. But riding a four-legged beast is not as straightforward in Minecraft as it is in other video games. You don’t buy a horse or simply press a “Ride” button and ride off into the sunset.

Horses are wild things in Minecraft. So, before you can add one as a mode of transportation, you need to tame them. Keep reading to learn more about taming horses and other types of equine mob in the game.

How to Tame a Horse in Minecraft

Horses are docile animals in Minecraft, so you don’t need to do battle to tame one, but they are a little skittish. It may take some time and a lot of practice to perfect this taming technique every single time:

1. Unequip your weapons, you won’t need them, and you don’t want to attack the horse by accident.
   
2. Approach the horse you want to tame.
   
3. Mount the horse by right-clicking on it or pressing the “Mount” button. The horse will probably unseat you a few times, so you need to keep trying.
   
4. Once the horse accepts you and stops trying to buck you off his back, it’s time to ride him. Equip a saddle from your inventory.
   
5. Explore the map with your new mount.

A saddle isn’t necessary while you’re in the “taming” process of getting bucked into the dirt. However, you will need one when the horse accepts you as a rider or it won’t take you anywhere. It’s a good idea to have a saddle already in your inventory so that you’re ready to go when the time arises.

Unfortunately, you can’t craft a saddle, so you’ll also need to find one in the world. You’re most likely to find them in chests as you explore the map.

How to Tame a Skeleton Horse in Minecraft

Why ride a regular horse when you can use a skeleton horse as a mount? It is possible to add this undead mob as a mode of transport in your game, but it requires a few more steps than a standard horse.

1. Find a skeleton horse.
   This normally happens when a regular horse is struck by lightning and splits into multiple skeletal horses with mounted skeletons. If you’re having trouble finding a skeleton horse, go to a biome with plentiful horse spawns during a thunderstorm and wait.
   Eventually, one will get hit by lightning. Just remember that you can’t tame a skeleton horse by using a spawn egg. It has to be a naturally occurring spawn in the game.
   
2. Kill the skeleton rider(s).
   When a horse is struck by lightning, it splits into four or five skeleton horses, and those horses have skeleton riders. You may have heard of a “skeleton horse trap” in Minecraft. That simply means that you may see a lone skeleton horse wandering a biome, but once you get close, it’ll get struck by lightning and the split happens – springing like a trap.
   Be careful as you’re eliminating the skeleton riders because they’re very fast and attack at range using enchanted bows.
   
3. Equip a saddle.
   Unlike regular horses, you don’t have to go through a taming process to ride a skeleton horse. As soon as you kill all the skeleton riders, you can go up to a remaining skeleton horse and equip a saddle from your inventory. The saddle allows you to mount and control the horse.
   

How to Tame a Zombie Horse In Minecraft

There’s good news and bad news if you’re hoping to ride a zombie horse in Minecraft. The bad news is that you can’t find one in the wild and tame it the way you would any other equine mob. But you can summon one via the /summon command or Creative Mode in the Java Edition.

If you’re ready to make a zombie horse yours, check out the summon commands below.

• Java Edition 1.16
  /summon zombie_horse [pos] {Tame:1}
• Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PE, Windows 10, Education Edition
  /summon zombie_horse

Just remember to enable cheats in your Minecraft world before you try the summon command.

So, you’re probably wondering how you can tame and ride one.

The short answer is that you can’t unless you have Minecraft Java Edition. With Java Edition, you can specify things like spawning tamed with a saddle. For all other editions, you can have a zombie horse, but they’re more like pets than mounts.

How to Tame a Horse in Minecraft Bedrock

Taming a horse in Minecraft Bedrock is similar to the way you’d do it in other game editions.

1. Approach the horse with empty hands.
2. Tap the horse with your now empty hands.
   OR
3. Press the ‘’Ride’’ button, if available.
4. Repeat steps 1-2 or 3 as necessary every time you’re bucked off the back of the horse.
5. Keep “taming” the horse until the horse stops bucking and hearts appear on-screen.

Some players also like to feed the horse before taming one to increase their chances of shortening the taming phase. The next time you want to tame a horse, try offering sugar, wheat, or an apple first.

How to Tame and Ride a Horse in Minecraft

Taming and riding a horse is a three-step process. Take a look below to get started:

Step 1 – Obtain Your Necessary Equipment

The first step is relatively painless because you just need to obtain a saddle if you plan on riding the horse. Remember that you can’t craft a saddle in Minecraft, so you’ll need to find one in a chest as you explore.

It’s also a good time to look for Horse Armor to put on your new mount. Like saddles, you can’t craft Horse Armor. You need to find it while you’re exploring the map.

Step 2 – Taming the Horse

Taming the horse is a relatively simple process. Just approach it with empty hands and click on it or press the “Mount” button. This puts you on top of the horse where it’ll promptly buck you off its back. Repeat this process until it stops unseating you and you see hearts appear. That’s how you know it’s finally tamed.

Feeding the horse items like wheat, apples, and sugar can also help increase your chances of lowering the time it takes to tame.

Step 3 – Riding the Horse

Once your horse stops bucking you off, it’s time to put a saddle on it. You won’t be able to control where it goes without one. You can also put Horse Armor on your mount at this time.

Where to Find Horses in Minecraft

You can find naturally spawned horses in certain biomes like savannas or plains. There are typically two to six horses per herd and they’re usually the same color with slight differences in markings. Villages are also another place to find naturally generated horses in the game.

How to Tame a Horse in Minecraft 1.15.2

Taming a horse in 1.15.2 takes some time and patience. Check out the steps below to tame a wild horse in Minecraft:

• Approach the horse with empty hands.
• Click on the horse as you do to use an item.
• Stay on the back of the horse until it bucks you off.
• Repeat the process until the horse stops unseating you and you see hearts appear on the screen.

How to Tame a Horse in Minecraft 1.16

The horse taming process doesn’t change from Minecraft 1.15.2 to 1.16. If you need an update, check out these steps:

• With empty hands, click on the horse you want to tame.
• Stay on its back until it bucks you off.
• Repeat the process until it stops bucking you off its back.
• Saddle it to use it as a mount.

How to Tame a Horse in Minecraft 1.16.4

The addition of the 1.16.4 update to Minecraft did not change the way that you tame horses in the game. You still need to approach it with empty hands and interact with it to mount it. It’ll most likely buck you off its back, so you need to repeat the process until it stops bucking and you see hearts appear on-screen.

How to Tame a Horse in Minecraft 1.17.10

Taming a horse in 1.17.10 is the same process as past editions of the game. You need to interact with it while empty-handed, so you don’t accidentally attack it. Mount the horse and repeat the process every time you’re unseated until it stops bucking you off its back.

Additional FAQs

How Does Horse Armor Work in Minecraft?

Horse armor can help protect your horse to varying degrees depending on which one you have equipped on your steed. It doesn’t have a durability rating so it may be used indefinitely, and you also can’t enchant it.

You can craft leather horse armor or trade for it in villages with expert-level leatherworkers. However, if you’re looking for horse armor that’s higher than a leather tier, you need to find it in chests generated in the world.

What Do Horses Like to eat in Minecraft?

Horses like to eat:

• Sugar

• Apples

• Wheat

• Golden carrots

• Golden apples

You can also feed hay bales to tamed adult horses, but they won’t work on wild horses.

How Do You Ride a Horse in Minecraft?

You need to tame the horse if they’re not already tamed and then equip a saddle on it to control it.

How to Saddle a Horse in Minecraft?

Putting a saddle on a horse means accessing the horse’s menu. The buttons differ depending on the platform you’re using. If you’re on PC, you’ll use the “Left + Shift” keys at the same time and hold while mounted on the horse. Once you have it open, you can drag the saddle and drop it into the horse’s inventory to equip it.

What Do You Feed Horses in Minecraft?

Horses can eat a handful of items like:

• Sugar

• Apples, golden and regular

• Wheat

• Golden apples

• Hay bales, for tamed adult horses

How Does Temper Work With Horses in Minecraft?

A horse’s temper or temperament directly affects how long it can take to tame a wild horse. Horses start with a 0 out of 100 temper. Each time you first mount a horse, the game randomly assigns a taming threshold between 0 and 100. Taming a horse means that you make its temper exceed the set threshold.

You can surpass that threshold by mounting the horse repeatedly or feeding it.

Where Do Horses Spawn in Minecraft?

Horses generally spawn in Plains biomes and Savannah biomes in the Minecraft world.

Get Ready to Ride in Style

Horses are a great way to get around the world. But it does take some work until a wild horse deems you worthy enough to ride it. The key to taming wild horses is patience. You’re going to get bucked off its back; it’s inevitable. Don’t be afraid to get back on as many times as it takes to make the horse yours.

Also, remember to have a saddle in your inventory before you attempt to tame a horse. Otherwise, you won’t be able to use it once it’s tamed.

What’s the longest it’s taken you to tame a horse? Tell us about it in the comments section below.