Horse

Horses are passive mobs that can be tamed. There are three different in-game Horse variants: Horses, Donkeys, and Mules. Zombie and Skeleton horse variants also exist, but are currently obtainable only through world editing, and cannot be tamed or used in any way.

Horses and Donkeys spawn naturally in plains and savannas, while Mules must be created by breeding a Horse with a Donkey. Mules themselves are not capable of breeding. The variants can appear in one of several different breeds that exhibit different visual styles.

Once tamed, all horse variants can be saddled. Unlike tamed ocelots or wolves, tamed horses will not automatically follow the player, and can wander away unless kept on a lead or ridden. Ordinary Horses can additionally be armored. Tamed Donkeys and Mules cannot be armored, but can be fitted with chests for added mobile item storage. Once any tamed horse is saddled, it can be mounted and controlled with standard player movement controls. Tamed horses can also jump.

Unlike most mobs, horses have their own statistics that vary. These include health, speed, and jump strength (though these cannot be checked easily in-game). When breeding, the statistics of the parents influence the statistics of the offspring. Horses and Donkeys are bred using Golden Apples or Golden Carrots. Foal (young horse) growth can be accelerated via apples, wheat, sugar, bread, golden apples and hay bales.

Spawning
Unlike most other passive mobs, horses can only spawn in plains and savannas. Because of this, horses are seemingly rarer than other passive mobs, although within those biomes they spawn just as frequently as any other. Horses spawn in herds, ranging from a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 6. All members of any given herd will have the same base coat color, although individual markings can vary. All skin pattern variations of horses, including donkeys, have an equal chance of spawning, although donkeys seem to be less common. Mules do not spawn naturally, and can only be spawned in survival mode by cross-breeding a horse with a donkey.

If a spawn egg is used, the pattern of the spawned horse is completely random and cannot be controlled; this variation includes donkeys, who do not have their own unique spawn egg. Mules cannot be spawned via spawn eggs at all. In creative mode, just like in survival, mules cannot be found naturally or spawned via a spawn egg; they must be bred from horses and donkeys.

Appearance


There are currently 5 variations of the horse mob in the game, where the variations are normal horses, donkeys, mules, skeleton horses, and zombie horses. Each variation has unique features and markings, and a foal version. Unlike wolves and ocelots, the appearances of horses do not change once they have been tamed, though tame horses may be differentiated from wild horses if they have been given equipment.

Horse creation was assisted by DrZhark (John Olarte), creator of the Mo' Creatures mod, whose horses were a baseline for Minecraft's Horse models.

Horse


Horses all feature the same stocky build and can be 1 of 7 base colors: white, buckskin, dark bay, bay, black, dapple gray, and flaxen chestnut. Horses also have a secondary coloring known as markings. There are 5 different marking variations: no markings, stockings and blaze, snowflake appaloosa, paint and sooty. In total, there are 35 possible horse coat combinations taking into consideration all base colors and markings. (For entity data values, see Horse Variants.)

Donkey


Donkeys are smaller all around than the normal horses and sport long, erect ears. Their manes do not protrude, but rather are drawn directly on the back of their heads and necks. All donkeys have grey-brown coats with darker ankles, ears, manes, and tails. Donkeys cannot be equipped with horse armor, but can be equipped with chests to store items. Its storage contains 15 slots.

Mule


Mules, the offspring of interbred horses and donkeys, are closer to (but are not quite) the size of a normal horse. However, their ears, coats, and manes are like those of the donkey, though the mules’ coats are darker and reddish-brown in color. Like donkeys, mules cannot be equipped with armor, but can be equipped with chests.

All mules are sterile, meaning they cannot breed.

Undead horse


Undead horses, or zombie horses, appear to be the counterpart of zombies. Like zombies, undead horses are green-skinned on account of their leathery-looking rotten flesh, and their eyes are completely black. Undead horses can neither be tamed nor mounted except with third party editors. Undead horses make a low-pitched screaming noise when killed.

Undead horses can only be obtained throughout the command string  or through external third-party editors. It's also possible to obtain a tamed and rideable one using the following command string:.

Skeleton horse


Skeleton horses are comprised of white bones, though it still maintains the general structure of a normal horse. This is reminiscent of skeletons, which are also composed only of bones. Skeleton horses cannot be mounted nor tamed except with third-party editors. Skeleton horses make the same noise as a normal horse when killed, but lower-pitched.

Skeleton horses are unobtainable in Minecraft without external or third-party editors, and as of 13w36a, skeleton horses can obtained by using the command string. It's also possible to obtain a tamed and rideable one using the following command string:.

Usage
Tamed horses can be used as one of the fastest means of transportation in the game. They can also be used to climb hills, as horses can jump very high. Donkeys and mules can be equipped with chests and used as pack animals. However, horses are difficult to ride in confined areas like jungles, and in water more than 2 blocks deep.

Skeleton and undead horses are currently of little use to the player because they cannot be tamed, but their appearances and their respective similarities to skeletons and zombies suggest that they may be intended as hostile mobs.

Behavior


Horses and donkeys spawn in plains and savannas in the Overworld in herds of as few as 2 individuals. Horse herds seem to be somewhat rarer than groups of other passive animal mobs such as cows or sheep. Donkey herds are even more uncommon. There is little variation within naturally spawned herds; foals may spawn alongside adult horses, but coat types all tend to be similar. For normal horse herds, the animals will have the same base coat color, though markings may differ.

Mules, skeleton horses, and undead horses do not spawn naturally. Mules can be acquired through breeding. Currently, undead horses and skeleton horses can only be brought into the game with the /summon command.

All horses will roam idly, occasionally stopping to rear, swish their tails, or lower their heads as though eating the grass. Unlike sheep, the eating animation does not actually cause any grass to be consumed. If a player comes near, the horses may turn to look at them. Any horse, even a wild one, will allow itself to be attached to a lead without protest. However, if the player attempts to saddle an untamed horse, it will rear and flail its front hooves, though this causes no damage to the player. Horses remain passive even when hit. The appearances of the undead and skeleton horses suggest that they could possibly be intended as hostile mobs, but at this time they are completely passive if spawned.

Horses will also open their mouths and make noises that depend on the particular horse’s variation. Normal horses make neighs and whinnies, while donkeys and mules, which use the same audio, emit brays. Skeleton horses make various metallic sounds. Zombie horses make several ominous moaning sounds.

Horses are hydrophobic, will throw the rider off if swimming in water deeper than 2 blocks, and then will be difficult to coax back onto land or water shallow enough to remount. Players can build a few blocks underneath the horse to get it on dry land, or try to push it. But the player swimming in deeper water while leading a horse is no problem; keep that in mind as a solution when having to cross deep water rivers.

In some respects horses, even tamed and equipped ones, can be oblivious to certain dangers in the environment. If not restrained by a lead fastened to a fence post or under the control of a rider it is possible for a horse to enter a surface pool of lava and destroy itself.

Taming
Adult horses, donkeys, and mules can be tamed; foals, skeleton horses, and zombie horses cannot. It is necessary to tame a horse in order to breed it, give it equipment, or ride it for any length of time.

To tame a wild horse, approach it and right click on it with an empty hand. You will climb on top of it, and will likely be thrown off. After a few attempts, it will allow you to remain on it and will give off heart animations. At this point you can dismount it by pressing the sneak key and place a saddle on it, or you can place a saddle without using the sneak key at all by right-clicking on the horse with the saddle in hand. Horses can also be saddled by opening your inventory while mounted and moving the saddle to the appropriate slot in the horse's inventory.

The chance of successful taming on the first try is almost 0%, yet it can be done. Taming on the first attempt is very rare. After the first attempt without taming the horse, the chances increase by about 5%, and usually one can then tame a horse after about 5-6 attempts. Taming can be sped up by feeding the horse any of the approved foods when you are standing next to it - see column "Taming prob." in the table below.

Breeding
Feeding tamed horses golden apples or a golden carrot will activate love mode. Depending on the variations of the parent horses, the offspring can be one of several types. The offspring will be more spindly than their adult versions and will grow progressively larger with time until they reach their full size. Breeding horses tend towards average horses and the best horses are found in the wild or spawned through spawn eggs.

The offspring will not automatically belong to the player who owns its parents. Rather, it will be born as an untamed horse and will need to be tamed if the player wants the benefits of ownership. It will not be tamable until it has grown into an adult, a process which takes approximately 20 minutes. If the player does not want to wait, the foal can be fed to make it mature faster (Golden Apples mature the offspring faster than Golden Carrots). See table below.

A foal has an attachment to its birth-mother, unless you kill her (in which case it will move to another available horse).

Horse
Breeding two horses produces a horse foal. Usually the new foal has the color of either of its parents. One out of nine times it will take on an uncorrelated color (this color could still be the same as the parents', slightly reducing the probability of the new color being different). Markings are supposed to work likewise, but due to a bug the foal will only ever have the markings of one of its parents.

Mule
Mules cannot be found in the wild. Mules can only be bred between a horse and a donkey.

Donkey
Breeding two donkeys creates a donkey foal. Since all donkeys have the same texture, the offspring will look exactly like its parents when it is fully grown.

Foods
Feeding a horse food can alter its behavior, cause it to grow (if it is not yet an adult), and/or restore its health. The table below lists the effects of the various foods horses will take. The two undead horses cannot be fed, even if spawned tame with an editor. Horses can only be fed when their health is low or are untamed by holding the feed and right clicking (similar to other animals). If a horse does not need feeding or if the food is invalid, the player will just mount the horse instead of feeding it.

Note: it takes 20 minutes for a newborn foal to grow into an adult.

Effects
Effects can be placed on tame horses by using splash potions. Splash potions have to be thrown at a distance from the player at the horses, or the player will mount on the horses. However, should the player decide to mount a horse, the player can still throw splash potions to give the horses effects, but it will also be applied to the player.

Effects can only be seen on the horses through the particles, not through accessing the inventory of a horse, like effects would appear in a player's inventory menu. Like any other mob, horses cannot drink milk, so horses are unable to be cured.

Effects can also be given to donkeys, mules, and both versions of undead horses.

Creative mode
The health GUI for horses, mules, and donkeys show up when the player is in Survival Mode and Adventure Mode. The only other GUIs that appear in Creative Mode for horses, mules, and donkeys is the jump bar.

Equipment


Tamed horses can be equipped with saddles, horse armor (normal horses only), or chests (donkeys or mules only). Foals cannot be equipped with anything. Skeleton horses and zombie horses cannot be tamed, but if spawned tame with an editor they can be equipped with saddles only.

Equipment can be placed on a horse by holding it and then right clicking on the horse, or by accessing its inventory. A horse’s inventory can be accessed by mounting the horse and opening the player inventory or by holding down shift and then right-clicking on the horse. (Note that right-clicking without holding down shift will cause the player to mount the horse.) A normal horse’s inventory will only have 2 slots, 1 for a saddle and 1 for horse armor. A donkey or mule will only have a saddle slot originally, but if it is given a chest, it will acquire 15 more inventory slots that can hold anything the player wishes.

Chests can only be given to a donkey or a mule by right-clicking on the donkey or mule with the chest in hand, and afterwards the chest cannot be removed, except by killing the donkey or mule. Upon death, the donkey or mule will drop the attached chest and its contents.

Even a wild horse can be attached to a lead, which can then be tied to a fence post to keep the horse from wandering. Leads are attached by holding it in hand and then right-clicking on the horse.

Riding
Once you have tamed a horse and put a saddle on it, you can control it with standard directional controls and the mouse (Please note that a horse can be mounted without a saddle, but can not be controlled, similarly to how a pig with a saddle can not be controlled without a Carrot on a Stick).

Horses can be made to jump, and holding the jump key allows you to charge your jump. Horses are not affected by Jump Boost beacons. Sneaking causes you to dismount, as does going in water deeper than two blocks.

Horse jump bar

Empty: 

Full: 

When you mount a horse, the hunger bar and oxygen bar are replaced by the horse's health in survival or adventure mode. It uses a slightly different heart texture than the player's health bar. The experience bar is replaced by the horse jump bar, which gauges how high you jump. The maximum jumping height, which is reached when the bar is fully charged as you release the spacebar, depends on the horse you ride. It seems to range from about 1.2 to 5.5 blocks high. As each horse has different statistics, it is difficult to gauge the maximum distance, but testing has revealed that certain horses can jump distances of 12 blocks.

You can use any item while riding a horse, including drinking or throwing potions, activating doors or redstone devices, or using chests, crafting tables, and furnaces. You can also break and place blocks, use a sword, and fire arrows.

When running forward, you will start at a slow walk and build to a speed faster than sprinting. You will automatically run up any one block high slope. You are three blocks tall while on a horse, but you can ride under 2 block tall areas, causing your head to pass through blocks. This causes suffocation damage, except when passing through non-solid blocks. You are slightly wider than one block, and are unable to walk through one block wide gaps. However, due to the horse's length, you can run over any one block gap. It also appears you can run across a two block gap at high speeds, but this does not seem to work all of the time.

Virtually all horses appear to be able to go faster than a minecart when both are moving at full speed. Some seem to be quite dramatically faster than a minecart. This can be combined with speed potions and the Nether to make the horse easily the fastest practical way to travel in Minecraft (around 130 m/s Earth-equivalent in The Nether). The speed of a horse is irrespective of its outward appearance. In order to find a fast horse, you have to tame multiple individuals and compare them.

Horses are very slow moving backwards, and about as fast as the player when moving sideways. Therefore, turning around is quite preferable to moving backwards or sideways.

When dismounting underground, for example in a two-wide, three high tunnel, one must be careful because it is possible to appear in a dark cave if the cave is separated from the tunnel by a one block thick wall. If there are any blocks in the tunnel, either on the floor or ceiling the horse can climb onto, or pass under them suffocating the riding player.

Health, Jump Height, Speed
All horses have three "equine stats" which vary from horse to horse: health, jump height and (maximum) speed. The stats are created once the horse is born and are not affected by food. The different horse types use different formulas for each:


 * Health runs from 15 to 30, with most around the average of 22.5.
 * Jump strength is from 0.4 to 1.0 in internal units (but tending toward the average of 0.7.)
 * Maximum speed is from 0.1125 to 0.3375 (but tending toward the average of 0.225.) This is in internal units. By comparison, the player's walking speed is 0.1 in the same units.
 * The speed in blocks/second is a bit over 43 times the internal value, but can be affected by various conditions.
 * Donkeys are spawned with 15 to 30 health, 0.175 movement speed and 0.5 jump strength.

The above applies to naturally spawned horses. When breeding two horses, the foal's stats are determined by averaging both parent's stats with a third set, randomly determined as above. (That is, add both parents' stats with the random value, and divide by 3).

On multiplayer, it is possible to easily figure out which of two horses (owned and ridden by different players) is faster. Each rider needs to apply a lead to the other horse, then play 'tug of war'. The stronger horse will be faster. This can be seen in this video, along with a simple horse garage, and the world's slowest horse.

Trivia

 * The way you tame a horse is in the same style as taming a horse in real life, called "Breaking" a horse. The food is also used to calm down the horse in real life.
 * Just like other baby mobs, you can spawn foals with the spawn egg by right-clicking on a horse. The foal will be the same breed as the horse.
 * Every foal spawned this way follows the horse you spawned it from like a normal baby mob.
 * If you ride just beside a tree causing your head to be within a block of leaves, it will cause certain parts of textures of some blocks to disappear. This can be used to have "X-Ray vision" as you can essentially see through nearby trees.
 * An interesting trick you can do while riding a horse is to get on your horse, press F1 on your keyboard, drink a potion of invisibility, and press F5. It will look like you are the horse, instead of riding on the horse.
 * This can be used to trick other players into thinking that you are a horse, making this a great mob disguise.
 * This also works with pigs, but you can only control it with a carrot on a stick, which other players can see you holding when you are invisible.
 * It is possible to jump over wooden fences and stone walls while riding a horse.
 * It is possible to "double jump" by falling off of a block above the ground, and then jumping before landing.
 * Even though the skeleton and zombie horses look like undead versions of their counterparts, they are not treated as undead. For example, they can be poisoned even though normal undead mobs are immune to poison, the Smite enchantment will not affect them, hitting them with splash potions of Harming and Healing will have the same effects as on living mobs, and Withers will attack them as if they were any other living mob.
 * Running over a TNT Minecart landmine will result in the horse dying, but the player being undamaged until they land on the ground.
 * Horses are quite possibly the best method of traveling long distances overland; they can attain speeds of at least 11 meters/second (660 blocks per minute, nearly 40 km/hour), navigate hilly terrain very easily, jump ravines with near-100% consistency, and require no infrastructure except at the end (they are not good in jungles or some forests though.)
 * A horse, like most mobs, can ride in a minecart. You can get full grown horses out. A horse can be released by riding the horse and punching the cart.
 * It is impossible to enter a Nether portal while on a horse. It is possible however, to sometimes enter the portal on the horse and then press shift to escape, sending the horse to the nether on its own, like dogs. Additionally, you can dismount, walk the horse into the portal with a lead, and remount, or you can just nudge the horse into the Nether. Note that horses, like all other mobs, have a cooldown of about a minute after going through a portal before they can come back.  They must be clear of the portal during that time in order to go through again.
 * In the Minecraft credits it gives credit to Dr. Zhark for the Horse.
 * The Buckskin colored horse is the only horse that has a white blaze no matter what markings it receives.
 * If you open the horse's panel while it is leashed, the leash will overflow outside of the horse model.
 * Foals can be spawned from foals using Spawn Eggs.
 * The resulting foals will not follow an adult horse, except occasionally it will choose a random adult horse.
 * Foals have the ability to walk into vertical blocks and suffocate, making raising foals in hilly terrain very difficult.
 * Spawning a horse on a vertical surface causes the horse's back half to protrude into it, dealing the horse damage. This is probably because of its size.
 * If an adult horse is killed and drops leather, you may receive the "Cow Tipper" achievement even though you got it from a horse rather than a cow. This appears to be intended behavior.
 * Although it is very difficult to tell due to their base coat color, white horses DO show markings besides sooty if you look closely.
 * Horses are the only passive mob that can naturally regenerate health.