How To Breed Horses in Minecraft?
In Minecraft, you have the ability to breed horses by offering Golden Apples or Carrots to two tamed horses. Horses are among the select few animals within the game that can be both tamed and bred. This implies that with just an initial pair of horses, you have the potential to amass a large herd of hundreds. However, you will require an ample supply of apples and carrots to feed them all, in addition to a substantial amount of gold.The following is a comprehensive guide on breeding horses in Minecraft. It encompasses not only the breeding process itself but also provides insights on how to properly care for the newly born baby foal.
- Author: Shine
- Update: Feb 19, 2025
Where to Find Horses
To begin with, it's essential to locate several horses. Unlike certain other animals like cows and pigs, horses don't randomly spawn everywhere; instead, they have to be searched for in particular biomes. The Plains and Savannah biomes are the habitats where horses can be encountered.
Generally speaking, horses tend to spawn in groups ranging from two to six individuals. This implies that once you come across a single horse, there's a high probability that additional horses are in the vicinity. For the purpose of breeding horses, having two of them is crucial. This means that you need to find and tame a pair of horses before you can commence the breeding process.
Tame two horses
Horses spawn randomly in plains and savannas, usually in herds. And some villages will keep horses in stables and pens. You can take any of these horses — there's no gender in Minecraft, so you don't need to worry about grabbing a male and female.
To tame a horse, you'll need to approach and "use" it (right-click or left trigger) while you're not holding anything, which will let you climb onto its back. The first few times you do this, it'll probably buck you off after a few moments. Keep doing this until hearts appear above the horse and it stops bucking you off. It can take a while, so be patient.
Once you have successfully tamed a horse, you have the option to secure it by attaching a Lead or equip it with a Saddle. These actions enable you to relocate the horse promptly to a desired location. For instance, you can move it into an enclosed area surrounded by a fence.
After taming two horses, it is advisable to keep them in the same place. This way, you can manage and prepare them conveniently for the subsequent steps in the process.
Data and Figures Concerning Horses
Now that you have managed to tame two horses, it's crucial to recognize that horses are not uniform in nature. Similar to how players possess varying skill levels, horses exhibit different statistical values for speed, jumping ability, and health. These statistics play a pivotal role in the breeding process, as the foal will inherit a blend of these traits from its parent horses.
A horse becomes increasingly valuable when it has superior statistics, as it can enhance your gaming experience in a more significant way. Some players prefer horses that can swiftly traverse the terrain, while others are drawn to those with exceptional jumping heights or greater resilience to substantial damage.
When you breed two horses, the resulting foal will inherit a combination of these desirable characteristics. Consequently, players who are patient and a bit fortunate can breed horses that outperform any wild horses in terms of speed, strength, and jumping prowess.
Undertake the Task of Crafting Golden Apples or Carrots.
In order to encourage your tamed horses to be receptive to breeding, you need to offer them some special delicacies. Specifically, you can choose to feed them either Golden Apples or Golden Carrots.
Golden Apples can be discovered within treasure chests scattered throughout both the Overworld and the Nether. However, if you prefer, you can also craft them yourself. To do this, place a normal Apple in the middle of your Crafting Menu, and then encircle it with eight Gold Ingots. This process will result in the creation of a Golden Apple.
Fortunately, Golden Carrots are less costly in terms of materials. You can make them by arranging eight Gold Nuggets around a regular Carrot in the Crafting Menu. Once you've completed this step, you'll have a Golden Carrot ready to use for breeding your horses.
Feed your horses
Once you possess two tamed horses and have at least two pieces of golden food items at your disposal, you are all set to initiate the breeding process.
Bring the two horses close together and offer either a Golden Apple or a Golden Carrot to each of them. As soon as they consume the treats, hearts will manifest above their heads, indicating that the breeding process has been triggered. In just a short while, a newborn baby horse will come into being.
Incrementally Improving the Stats of Horses
One of the remarkable aspects of horse breeding in Minecraft is that you have the opportunity to enhance their statistical attributes over successive generations. When you breed two horses that possess favorable stats, there is a likelihood that their foal will inherit those positive traits and potentially even surpass its parents in terms of performance.
Mating two high-quality horses has the potential to yield a foal with improved characteristics. For instance, if you pair a horse renowned for its exceptional speed with another that has remarkable jumping ability, the resulting foal might inherit both of these outstanding qualities. It's important to keep in mind, though, that the foal's attributes are subject to a degree of randomness. Consequently, the stats of the offspring won't always be an exact average of the parents' stats; they could turn out to be either better or worse. Due to this element of unpredictability, it's a prudent strategy to assess each horse's capabilities before embarking on the breeding process.
To gauge a horse's speed, you can simply ride it around and observe how quickly it moves. You'll be able to identify a horse that is faster than the average quite rapidly through this method. Testing a horse's jumping strength involves building a small fence or a set of stairs and observing the height of its jumps. As for determining a horse's health, you can do so by checking the number of hearts it has. Once you've identified horses with the desired stats, you can proceed with breeding them to see what kind of foal they produce.
Attaining the ideal horse may require multiple attempts at breeding. Nevertheless, with perseverance and dedicated effort, you will ultimately be rewarded with a horse that boasts the exceptional stats you've been striving for.
On Breeding Donkeys as well as Mules
Apart from horses, donkeys are also capable of being bred within the world of Minecraft. The traits of donkeys exhibit some subtle differences when compared to those of horses. Donkeys are not as swift as horses and lack the same level of jumping ability, being unable to leap as high.
However, they make up for these limitations with a unique advantage: they can carry a chest that is attached to them. This feature renders them extremely valuable and practical for undertaking long journeys. Just like with horses, you can initiate the breeding process for donkeys by providing them with Golden Apples or Golden Carrots as treats.