How to tame a horse in Minecraft

Matt Porter
Minecraft character riding a horse

Taming a horse in Minecraft is the easiest and fastest way to get around your world. Here’s everything you need to know about acquiring your own steed, including what you need, how to tame it, ride it, and feed it.

Released back in 2011, Minecraft has dominated the gaming world for the last decade and remains the most played video game in the world to this day. Minecraft’s sandbox nature means the only limitations to your adventure our your imagination, something that has captured the hearts of players worldwide.

The first time you spawn into your randomly-generated world, the only way you’ll be able to get around is with your own two legs. As you progress in your save though, you’ll soon be able to find horses, and use them for transport.

Taming a horse isn’t too difficult, but can still be difficult to do if you’re not sure how it’s done. Luckily, we’ve got everything you need to grab a mount of your own.

Two horses in Minecraft

How to find a saddle in Minecraft

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to make a saddle for yourself, and the only way to get your hands on one is by finding it.

If you want the best chance of finding a saddle, there are a few places in Minecraft with good spawn percentages. These are:

  • Nether Fortress (35.3% chance)
  • Dungeons (27.9% chance)
  • Desert Temple (23.5% chance)
  • Village – Tanner’s Chest (17.3% chance)
  • Village – Weaponsmith’s Chest (16.2% chance)
  • Ancient City (16.1% chance)

While Nether Fortresses have the highest spawn chance, that doesn’t mean that every one of these menacing structures will have one. If you visit 10 Nether Fortresses, 3 to 4 of them will have a chest with a saddle inside.

Saddle in a chest in Minecraft

How to tame a horse in Minecraft

Now that you have a saddle, the next step is to tame a horse. These animals can be found roaming around the grassy plains of your world, so finding one shouldn’t be too difficult. Even better, you don’t need any food to make it yours.

To tame a horse, simply walk over to it and hop onto its back by either right-clicking or using Left Trigger / R2 on Xbox and PlayStation.

The horse may buck you off a few times, but keep jumping back on again and again. Eventually, the horse will accept you, and you’ll have tamed your own mount!

Once tamed, a health bar with hearts will appear above it. Your horse will take damage, so use Apples, Wheat, Golden Apples, Golden Carrots, or a Hay Bale to help feed it and rejuvenate its health.

Feeding a horse an apple in Minecraft

Riding your horse in Minecraft

Now that you’ve tamed your horse, you’ll need to be able to control where it goes. This is where your saddle comes in.

You can ride a horse without its saddle, but the creature will just aimlessly walk around, and you won’t be able to steer it. By placing a saddle on the animal, you’ll be able to decide where it goes, and also make it run faster to get you places quickly.

Horses can walk over flat land, and jump over two blocks at a time when galloping. Horses can also walk through water, but it cannot be more than one block deep, otherwise, your mount will start to sink and you’ll be thrown off.


There you have it! Follow these simple steps, and soon you’ll have your very own horse to ride through the rolling hills and grassy plains of Minecraft.

Image Credits: Mojang

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