What horses eat and how to give it to them

Horses in Minecraft eat apples, golden apples, golden carrots, and hay bales. You hold the food in your hand, stand next to the horse, and right-click on it. The horse will eat the food, and you'll see hearts appear above its head if it was hungry or injured. Different foods heal different amounts: a regular apple restores 3 health points, a golden apple restores 10, a golden carrot restores 4, and a hay bale restores 20.

You don't need to feed a horse to keep it alive the way you feed yourself. Horses don't starve. Feeding them is only useful for healing them after they take damage, or for taming and breeding them. If a horse is at full health and already tamed, feeding it does nothing except use up your food.

Key Takeaways

  • Horses eat apples, golden apples, golden carrots, and hay bales—hold the food and right-click the horse to feed it.
  • Feeding a horse during taming speeds up the process and makes it more likely to accept a saddle.
  • Golden carrots and hay bales are the most efficient foods because they're easier to farm in bulk than apples.
  • Breeding two tamed horses requires feeding each one golden apples or golden carrots until hearts appear above their heads.
  • Horses do not starve, so feeding is only necessary for healing, taming, or breeding.

How to tame a horse by feeding it

To tame a wild horse, you first need to mount it by right-clicking on it with an empty hand. The horse will buck you off repeatedly—this is normal. Each time you mount it, the horse becomes slightly more tame. After mounting it 5 to 10 times, you'll see red hearts appear above its head, which means it's fully tamed.

Feeding the horse during this process speeds it up and increases the chance it will accept a saddle. After you've mounted the horse a few times, feed it an apple, golden apple, golden carrot, or hay bale. The horse will eat it and show hearts. Keep mounting and feeding until the red hearts appear and stay. Once tamed, the horse will have a saddle icon in its inventory slot, and you can equip a saddle and bridle to ride it properly.

Where to find each type of horse food

Apples drop from oak and dark oak leaves when you break them, or you can find them in various loot chests. They're the easiest to find early on but the least efficient for healing.

Golden apples are rarer. You can craft them by surrounding an apple with 8 gold ingots on a crafting table, or find them in loot chests in mineshafts, strongholds, and other structures. They're expensive to craft but heal the most per item.

Golden carrots are crafted by surrounding a carrot with 8 gold nuggets on a crafting table. You can farm carrots by finding them in village farms or in loot chests, then replanting them. This is often the most practical route for breeding because you can set up a carrot farm and produce golden carrots in bulk.

Hay bales are crafted from 9 wheat on a crafting table. Wheat grows easily from seeds you find in grass or in village farms. Hay bales heal the most (20 health points) and are the cheapest to produce at scale, making them ideal if you're breeding multiple horses.

Breeding horses and what to feed them

To breed two tamed horses, you need to feed each one a golden apple or golden carrot until hearts appear above their heads. Regular apples and hay bales do not trigger breeding. Stand between the two horses, feed one, then feed the other. When both show hearts, they will move toward each other and produce a foal (baby horse).

The foal will inherit some traits from its parents, including color and speed. You can breed the same pair multiple times, but there's a cooldown of several minutes between breeding attempts. If you're breeding many horses, golden carrots are usually more practical because you can farm carrots faster than you can gather or craft golden apples.

Why some foods work better than others

Not all horse foods are equal in practice. Apples are common but heal only 3 health points, so you need many of them to heal a badly injured horse. Golden apples heal 10 points and trigger breeding, but crafting them costs 8 gold ingots per apple, which adds up quickly if you're breeding a lot of horses.

Golden carrots and hay bales are the workhorses of horse care. Golden carrots heal 4 points and trigger breeding, and you can farm carrots indefinitely by replanting them in tilled soil. Hay bales heal 20 points (the most of any food) and are made from wheat, which is even easier to farm than carrots. For large-scale breeding operations, most players farm wheat, craft it into hay bales, and use those for healing, then switch to golden carrots only when they want to breed.

Feeding horses from your inventory versus dropping food

You must hold the food in your hand and right-click the horse directly. You cannot drop food on the ground and have the horse eat it—horses don't pick up items the way some other mobs do. Make sure you have the food selected in your hotbar, then stand close to the horse and right-click.

If you're having trouble, check that the horse is actually tamed (it should have a saddle slot in its inventory). Wild horses will not eat from your hand. Also make sure you're using a food type the horse actually eats—hay, apples, golden apples, golden carrots, or hay bales. Other items like regular carrots or wheat will not work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I feed a horse regular carrots?

No. Regular carrots do not work on horses in Minecraft. You must use golden carrots, which are crafted by surrounding a regular carrot with 8 gold nuggets. This is a common mistake because carrots seem like they should work on horses.

Do I need to feed a horse to keep it alive?

No. Horses do not starve or lose health over time. Feeding is only necessary to heal damage, speed up taming, or trigger breeding. A healthy, tamed horse needs no food maintenance.

What's the fastest way to breed a lot of horses?

Farm wheat, craft it into hay bales for healing, and use golden carrots for breeding. Carrots are easier to farm than apples, and crafting golden carrots costs less than crafting golden apples. Set up a carrot farm and a wheat farm side by side, and you can breed continuously.

Can I feed a horse while riding it?

No. You must dismount the horse first. Right-click to get off, then feed it, then right-click again to mount. You cannot feed a horse from the saddle.

Do different colored horses need different food?

No. All horses eat the same foods regardless of color or markings. Color is purely cosmetic and does not affect diet or behavior.