- Breeding horses in Minecraft involves feeding two tamed horses with either Golden Apples or Carrots.
- To craft these Golden Apples or Carrots, you will need Gold Ingots or Nuggets.
- Additionally, by breeding a horse with a donkey, you can create a mule, which cannot be bred further.
Minecraft allows you to embrace various roles, from a valiant warrior to an intrepid cave diver, or even a humble farmer. If farming is your goal, gathering farm animals is a crucial first step.
Horses are among the several animals in Minecraft that you can tame and breed, leading to the potential of creating a large herd from just two horses. The key is having an ample supply of apples and carrots, as well as a significant amount of gold.
This guide offers tips on how to successfully breed horses in Minecraft and care for the newborn foal.
How to breed horses in Minecraft
To begin breeding horses, there are certain steps you first need to complete, starting with finding and taming two horses.
Tame two horses
Horses naturally appear in plains and savannas, typically in herds, and some can be found in village stables and pens. Any of these horses can be tamed, as Minecraft does not differentiate between genders for breeding purposes.
To tame a horse, approach and interact with it (right-click or left trigger) without holding any item, allowing you to mount it. Initially, the horse may throw you off, but persistence will eventually lead to it accepting you, indicated by hearts. This process may take some time, so patience is key.
Once tamed, you can attach a Lead to the horse or equip it with a Saddle for easier transportation, such as moving it to a fenced area.
Craft Golden Apples or Carrots
For breeding, horses need to be fed special treats: Golden Apples or Golden Carrots.
Golden Apples can be found in treasure chests or crafted by placing an Apple in the center of the Crafting Menu and surrounding it with eight Gold Ingots.
Golden Carrots are less expensive to make. They are crafted by surrounding a regular Carrot with eight Gold Nuggets.
Quick tip: Gold Nuggets can be obtained by mining Nether Gold Ore, smelting gold items, or finding them in treasure chests. Gold Ingots are made by combining nine Nuggets or smelting Raw Gold and Gold Ore.
Feed your horses
With two horses and a minimum of two golden foods ready, you can initiate breeding.
Place the horses close together and feed them a Golden Apple or Carrot each. Hearts will appear, and shortly after, a baby horse will be born.
The baby horse, or foal, will follow its parents. It takes about 20 minutes for a foal to grow into an adult, but this can be expedited by feeding it apples, sugar, wheat, or hay.
Tips and tricks for breeding horses in Minecraft
Minecraft features horses in seven colors with five different marking types, totaling 35 horse varieties.
The appearance of a foal is determined by a mix of its parents’ traits and a 29 percent chance of acquiring a completely random look. If you’re aiming for a specific color, breeding two horses of that color increases your chances.
Each horse in Minecraft has randomly assigned stats for health, speed, and jumping ability. A foal’s stats are an average of its parents’ stats and a random imaginary horse. Therefore, the better the stats of the parent horses, the more likely you’ll have a superior foal.
Apart from horses, you can also breed a horse with a donkey to produce a mule. Mules, however, cannot breed further.
