Minecraft 1.6 - How to Ride Horses? Including Crafting the Saddle

Posted in minecraft

Riding the new horses in Minecraft isn't as easy as you might think. The first time you try, you'll probably be thrown from the horse and land with a bump! Don't worry, we'll show you exactly how to tame your new friend and you'll be riding in no time at all.

First of all, the horse mob in Minecraft (introduced in 13w16a snapshot) is based on the original Mo Creatures mod and a lot of the same principles apply. Before you can ride a horse you MUST break it. This is a technical term in the riding world and it just means you need to teach the horse how to accept you and ride correctly.

It can take several attempts before the horse will finally accept you so keep trying to ride the horse until you succeed. You'll find that you're thrown from the horse repeatedly but don't worry this is the only way.

Important: You MUST have crafted the saddle and applied it to the horse before trying to ride.

How do I know when the horse is ready to ride?

When you have finally 'broken' the horse (by repeatedly trying to ride it) you'll see floating hearts which look exactly the same as taming other animals in Minecraft. At this point, you can saddle the horse and ride it without being thrown off.

How to craft the saddle

The saddle recipe is really simple. You just need leather and iron ingot.

Important: Don't confuse the saddle with the pig saddle, the two are completely different.



Simply select the saddle from your inventory and right click to put on the horses back.

How to craft horse armour

If you want to beef your horse up you can create amour for protection. Armour is created from either gold ingot, diamond or iron ingot, combined with leather:



Once crafted, apply the armour to your chosen horse by selecting it in your inventory and right clicking a horse.

How to make horse jump

Horses can jump a considerable distance, even up to 4 blocks high. To jump successfully you need to learn the art of timing. A horse has its own stamina bar, shown below the health bar.

To make the horse jump, hold down the SPACEBAR for a short duration and release. As you hold down the key, the bar will increase towards the RHS. It's important to release the key before the scale goes into the blue area. Timing is key so practice makes perfect!