How to Tame a Horse in Minecraft – Riding Horses in Minecraft!

Learn how-to tame and ride a horse in Minecraft with our step-by-step guide! The best way to get around the map effectively is to find yourself a horse, so don't spend all your time shuffling around when you can feel the air blow through your hair on your trusty steed.

Horses are the best way to get around the Minecraft map speedily. If you fancy yourself an explorer, you will want to find yourself a horse. Horses can only spawn in plains or savanna biomes. There's many different colors and markings a horse can have, and all members of a herd will have the same color.

How-to Tame a Horse

To tame a horse in Minecraft, first find a a horse! They can be found commonly in plains or savanna biomes. Once you have the horse you'd like to tame, press the mount key on it (Right Click, LT, L2, ZL).  The horse is likely to buck you off at first, but you will want to just try to mount it again. You will be able to sit on the horse longer each time, and when you've finally succeeded in taming it you will see red hearts appear around the horse. You have now tamed the horse!

How-to Ride a Horse

Now, you'll be able to ride the horse, but you won't be able to control it. You'll need a saddle for that, you can find one of these from various chests around the map (stronghold, nether fortress, village, dungeon, desert temple, jungle temple, end city). You can also obtain one via Fishing on a rare chance (this is all about luck, I wouldn't recommend it unless you love fishing). The final way is that you can purchase one from a Leatherworker Villager 8 - 10 emeralds for one. You can't craft one, so if you want to be able to control your horse, you'll have to use one of these methods.

Saddling your Horse

Once you have the saddle, you'll need to equip it to your horse. Select the saddle in your hotbar, and then mount the horse. Once you are mounted, press the inventory key (E, Y, Triangle, ZL) and the horse's inventory will open up. Put the saddle in the slot that looks like a saddle and then you can control your horse!

Jumping

Now that you are controlling your horse you can run around with it, but you can also jump the horse. You'll notice a bar at the bottom of the screen, right above your tool bar. If you just tap the jump button you will get a small hop, but if you hold it, you'll notice the bar starts to light up. If you time this correctly and let go of the jump button right at the end of the bar, you will get the highest jump. The height of your jump is determined based on where you get let go of the key.

Dismounting

To dismount the horse, you'll need to press one of the following keys depending on the device you are playing on: Left Shift on PC, and press in the Right Stick on console.

General Horse Tips

• Your horse will automatically climb up blocks that are one block high. You can scale higher hills this way, but you'll have to maneuver around anything taller than one block.
• You can use any item while riding a horse! You can drink and throw potions, activate doors, open chests and even place blocks!
• Not all horses are the same! Some horses are faster, can jump higher, and have more health but there's no way to distinguish this by looks.
• You can feed your horse to heal them up. Horses will eat Sugar, Wheat, Apples, Golden Carrots or Apples, and a Hay Bale!