How to Tame and Ride a Horse in Minecraft (2024)

This Minecraft tutorial explains how to tame and ride a horse with screenshots and step-by-step instructions.

After you have tamed a horse in Minecraft, you can put a saddle on it and ride the horse. The saddle allows you to control the movements of the horse. Let's explore how to do this.

Required Materials to Ride a Horse

In Minecraft, these are the materials you can use to ride a horse:

1 SaddleHorse

Steps to Tame and Ride a Horse

1. Find a Horse

In Minecraft when you find a horse, you can tame it.

2. Tame the Horse

First, select an empty slot in your hotbar (because you must use your hand to tame the horse). You will tame a horse by repeatedly trying to mount the horse and getting bucked off.

The game control to tame the horse depends on the version of Minecraft:

For Java Edition (PC/Mac), right click on the horse.
For Pocket Edition (PE), you move your pointer over the horse and press the Mount button.
For Xbox 360 and Xbox One, press the LT button on the Xbox controller.
For PS3 and PS4, press the L2 button on the PS controller.
For Wii U, press the ZL button on the gamepad.
For Nintendo Switch, press the ZL button on the controller.
For Windows 10 Edition, right click on the horse.
For Education Edition, right click on the horse.

The horse will buck you off. Each time you are knocked off, try to mount the horse again. After every attempt, the horse will let you sit on it a bit longer before it bucks you off.

When the horse is tamed, you should see red hearts appear all around the horse and the horse will no longer buck you off.

Now at this point, you can sit on the horse but you can not control the movement of the horse until you put a saddle on the horse. So let's learn how to put a saddle on the horse.

3. Put a Saddle on the Horse

To put a saddle on a horse, select the saddle in your hotbar. The game control to put the saddle on the horse depends on the version of Minecraft:

For Java Edition (PC/Mac), right click on the horse to mount it and then press E for inventory.
For Pocket Edition (PE), you move your pointer over the horse and press the Mount button. Once mounted, tap on the button with 3 dots to open your inventory and then tap on the button with the picture of a saddle.
For Xbox 360 and Xbox One, press the LT button on the Xbox controller to mount the horse and then press the Y button to open your inventory.
For PS3 and PS4, press the L2 button on the PS controller to mount the horse and then press the Triangle button to open your inventory.
For Wii U, press the ZL button on the gamepad to mount the horse and then press the X button to open your inventory.
For Nintendo Switch, press the ZL button on the controller to mount the horse and then press the X button to open your inventory.
For Windows 10 Edition, right click on the horse to mount it and then press E for inventory.
For Education Edition, right click on the horse to mount it and then press E for inventory.

A window should open displaying the items that your horse is wearing.

Move the saddle from the hotbar to the saddle box on the left side of the horse picture.

After you move the saddle to the saddle box, you will see your horse's appearance change as the saddle is worn.

Now when you return to the game, you should see the horse wearing the saddle. Now let's learn how to ride the horse.

4. Mount the Horse

Now that you have tamed and put a saddle on a horse, you can ride it and control its movements. The game control to mount the horse depends on the version of Minecraft:

For Java Edition (PC/Mac), right click on the horse.
For Pocket Edition (PE), you move your pointer over the horse and press the Mount button.
For Xbox 360 and Xbox One, press the LT button on the Xbox controller.
For PS3 and PS4, press the L2 button on the PS controller.
For Wii U, press the ZL button on the gamepad.
For Nintendo Switch, press the ZL button on the controller.
For Windows 10 Edition, right click on the horse.
For Education Edition, right click on the horse.

You will mount and be riding the horse. You can move the horse using the same controls that you use to move yourself.

Change the camera angle if you want to see yourself riding the horse.

5. Dismount the Horse

The game control to dismount the horse depends on the version of Minecraft:

For Java Edition (PC/Mac), press the left shift key.
For Pocket Edition (PE), press the Center button (ie: crouch/sneak button) twice.
For Xbox 360 and Xbox One, press the Right Stick (RS) on the Xbox controller.
For PS3 and PS4, press the Right Stick (RS) on the PS controller.
For Wii U, press the Right Stick (RS) on the gamepad.
For Nintendo Switch, press the Right Stick (RS) on the controller.
Windows 10 Edition, press the left shift key.
For Education Edition, press the left shift key.

Congratulations, you have just learned how to tame and ride a horse in Minecraft!

Things to Do with Horses

Here are some activities that you can do with horses in Minecraft:

How to Feed a HorseHow to Use a Lead on a HorseHow to Breed Horses

How to Breed MulesHow to Put Armor on a HorseHow to Take Armor off a Horse