Minecraft Best Horse: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need

November 27, 2023 / Matthew Griffin
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Minecraft Best Horse: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need

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An Introduction to Horses in Minecraft

Horses in Minecraft are not just a means of transportation—they’re versatile companions that can make exploration faster and more efficient. Whether you're galloping across vast plains, jumping over obstacles, or outfitting your horse with armor for extra durability, these majestic animals bring both practicality and charm to your adventures. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about finding, taming, breeding, and using horses effectively in Minecraft, so you can saddle up and make the most of your  Minecraft Server.

How to Get the Best Horse in Minecraft

Horses are one of the most versatile and fun methods of transportation in Minecraft, combining speed, style, and utility. If you want the fastest, strongest, or highest-jumping horse, here’s how to find or breed the best horse in the game.

1. What Makes a "Best" Horse?

Horses in Minecraft have three key stats:

  • Speed: Determines how fast the horse moves (maximum: 14.23 blocks/second).
  • Jump Strength: Determines how high the horse can jump (maximum: 5.5 blocks).
  • Health: Varies from 15 to 30 hearts.

The "best" horse will depend on your needs. Speed is ideal for travel, jump strength is perfect for mountainous terrain, and high health is great for combat or dangerous environments.

2. Finding a Great Horse

Wild horses spawn in the Plains and Savanna biomes. To find a strong candidate:

  1. Tame Them First: Right-click the horse (or press the interact button) repeatedly until it stops bucking you off. Hearts will appear when it’s tamed.
  2. Test Their Stats:
    • Speed: Measure how fast the horse moves over a known distance.
    • Jump Strength: Hold the spacebar to charge a jump, then see how high they can go.
    • Health: Check how many hearts the horse has while riding it.

Look for a horse with above-average stats in at least one area.

3. Breeding for the Best Horse

To get the absolute best horse, you’ll need to breed strong ones together.

Step-by-Step Breeding Guide:

  1. Tame Two Horses: Select horses with good stats to start the process.
  2. Feed Them Golden Apples or Golden Carrots: These items put horses into "love mode," allowing them to breed.
  3. Check the Foal’s Stats: The baby horse (foal) will inherit a mix of stats from its parents, with slight variations. Tame and test it once it grows up.
  4. Repeat the Process: Breed horses with the best stats to refine their offspring further.

4. Optimizing Horse Stats

To consistently improve your horses:

  • Focus on Speed and Jump Strength: These are harder to find naturally.
  • Keep Testing and Breeding: A foal might not always improve on its parents, so patience and repetition are key.

5. Equipping Your Horse

Even the best horse benefits from gear:

  • Saddle: Required to control your horse.
  • Horse Armor: Provides extra protection. Available in leather, iron, gold, and diamond, with diamond offering the most defense.

You can find saddles and horse armor in:

  • Dungeon chests
  • Nether fortresses
  • Villager trades (from leatherworkers)
  • Bastions or other lootable structures

6. Pro Tips for Horse Care

  • Use Leads: To prevent your horse from wandering off.
  • Build a Stable: Protects your horse from mobs and keeps it nearby.
  • Watch for Traps: Avoid deep water and lava, as horses can be hard to retrieve.

7. Alternative Transportation

While horses are fast and fun, consider alternatives like:

  • Elytra: For flying long distances.
  • Boats on Ice: Faster than horses but limited to certain terrains.
  • Striders: Ideal for lava travel in the Nether.

 

8. Coat Colors

Horses have 35 possible coat combinations made up of:

  • Base Colors: 7 base colors
    • White
    • Creamy
    • Chestnut
    • Brown
    • Dark Brown
    • Black
    • Gray

9. Markings

Each base color can have one of five markings:

  • Plain (no markings)
  • White Socks and Blaze (white streak and hooves)
  • White Spots
  • Black Dapples
  • White Field (large patches of white)

Other Horse Variants:

These are additional horse-like mobs in Minecraft:

  1. Donkey: Used for storage; can equip chests.
  2. Mule: A hybrid between a horse and a donkey; can also equip chests but cannot breed further.
  3. Skeleton Horse: Undead horse that spawns during thunderstorms via a Skeleton Trap.
  4. Zombie Horse: Not obtainable in Survival without commands.

Summary

In survival, you can encounter wild horses with up to 35 unique appearances based on color and markings. With additional variants like donkeys, mules, skeleton horses, and zombie horses, there’s a lot of variety in Minecraft’s horse mobs.