If you’re after a mighty steed to roam the blocky expanse with, you’ll be wanting to learn how to breed horses in Minecraft.

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It isn’t made entirely obvious how you can breed horses in the game but, fortunately for you, we just happen to be experts in the subject.

Depending on what kinds of horses you breed in 2009 release, you will receive a different kind of foal. Once you know what to do, you can bring the horse of your dreams into the blocky world.

There are benefits to stats and colour when breeding horses in Minecraft. Even if it were just to see the cute spindly foal roaming around your homestead, though, it's a task worth completing.

If you're interested in how to breed horses in Minecraft, read on below to find out exactly that.

How to breed horses in Minecraft explained

To breed horses in Minecraft, you need to feed two tamed horses either golden apples or golden carrots.

Feeding two tamed horses that are near each other golden carrots or golden apples will activate love mode. This leads to mating, which leads to a foal (baby horse) being born.

No. We're not going into the Minecraft horse birds and bees. Ask your parents.

You can breed a horse and a donkey together, too, to create mules. Mules cannot breed, though, so don’t even try it.

After breeding two horses or a donkey and a horse, the foal they birth has its stats and colourings based on its parents. A bred foal’s stats, for instance, are taken as an average of those of its parents plus a random variation.

The colour of your baby horse, donkey or mule, meanwhile, has an 11 per cent chance of a random base colour, plus a 20 per cent chance for random markings.

If neither of those low percentage options are met, the colour of your foal will be based on the colour of one of its parents.

Now, get out there and create the best Minecraft horse, donkey or mule you can.

How to tame horses and donkeys in Minecraft

To tame a horse or donkey in Minecraft, you need to get close enough to them to interact in order to climb onto their back.

Keep doing this until they no longer buck and kick you off and instead allow you to ride them.

Use a Saddle or a Lead to take them where you want them to go – back to your farm for breeding, if that’s your plan.

Where to find golden apples and golden carrots in Minecraft

You can find golden apples inside treasure chests located in the following areas:

  • Dungeon
  • Mineshaft
  • Bastion Remnant
  • Desert Temple
  • Igloo
  • Ruined Portal
  • Stronghold
  • Underwater Ruins
  • Woodland Mansion

You can also craft a golden apple by fusing gold ingots and an apple together.

Find golden carrots, meanwhile, inside treasure chests within the following areas:

  • Ancient City
  • Bastion Remnant
  • Ruined Portal

Craft golden carrots, instead, with gold nuggets and a carrot.

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Authors

Toby Saunders
Toby SaundersFreelance Writer

Toby Saunders is a freelance writer specialising in Video Game journalism. He has a wealth of experience in the field and is published on many different websites including PCGamesN, Nintendo Life and Pocket Tactics. He has a degree in Film Studies (he gets to write about Film and TV occasionally, too).

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