Minecraft: How to Breed Horses

Horses are one of the most useful and popular mobs in Minecraft. These gentle creatures make great pets and act as mounts to aid in your travels. Through breeding, you can obtain even faster and stronger borses than those to be tamed in various biomes. However, you’ll need some specific resources and know-how to complete the breeding process. Here’s how to breed horses in Minecraft. 

Step One: Tame Horses to Breed

If you don’t already have two or more horses to use for breeding purposes, you’ll first need to obtain them. For this task, you need only find one herd of horses, as they typically spawn in groups of about two to six. However, you may need to do a bit more searching if you want just one of the 35 color variations or horses with specific stats. 

Herds of horses can be found in both the Plains and Savanna biomes in Minecraft. They’re friendly mobs as well, so you don’t need to worry about getting attacked. Although, you will need to tame your horse by mounting it. 

Once tamed, equip a saddle to complete the process. Repeat for every horse you wish to breed. 

Step Two: Get Some Horse Food

Before you can begin breeding your horses in Minecraft, you’ll need to obtain some necessary resources to kickstart the process. These items include: 

• Golden apples 
• Enchanted golden apples 
• Golden carrots 

While you won’t need all three, two of any of these items will do. These resources can be obtained as chest loot in the Overworld, but it’s faster to craft them if you’re able to do so. 

To craft golden apples and enchanted golden apples, simply place an apple on your crafting table and surround it with eight gold ingots. Similarly, crafting golden carrots will require you to place a carrot on your crafting table surrounded by eight gold nuggets.  

With this in mind, many would consider it much easier to craft a golden carrot, as the process is cheaper in the long run. 

Step Three: Feed and Breed 

Once you have something to feed your horses, you’ll finally be able to begin the breeding process. To start, feed your two desired horses one half of your selected fruit each.  

This will activate a number of hearts above your horses, which indicates they’re ready to breed. Soon after, a foal will spawn. 

Repeat the horse breeding process as needed if you’re in want of a foal with great stats. Learn more about taming mobs and breeding with the help of our Minecraft guides.