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Horses are an underrated mode of transportation in Minecraft. They can be a hassle to tame and breed, and once you get an elytra, there is no turning back. Although horses may not be the fastest way to get around, they are more efficient than walking. Additionally, quite a lot can go into making the perfect horse.
Related: Minecraft: Everything You Need To Know About Dragon Eggs
In this guide, we are going to go over horse stats and abilities. Every horse will have a set of stats that influence how you travel around the world. First, let's take a look at checking these horse stats and abilities.
How To Check Horse Stats
In short, there is no menu that lays out your horse's stats. Instead of viewing the information in a menu, you will have to test the horse yourself. There are three stats; speed, jump strength, and health. The level of these stats can be gauged simply by riding your horse around.
To get your first horse, you will need tame one. To do this, interact with an empty hand to mount the horse. Chances are, the horse will buck you off. When this happens, just hop back on the horse. Eventually, the horse will stop bucking and you can add a saddle. Horses each have a unique temperament, so the number of times you need to mount the horse for taming will vary.
Remember, you will need a saddle to control your horse. Without a saddle, you can get on a horse, but you will not be able to move around and jump. Additionally, you can tame multiple horses until you find one with good stats. Next, let's take a look at these three stats, starting with speed.
Speed
As the name implies, speed dictates how fast your horse moves. In general, the average horse moves at nine blocks per second. A horse with maximum speed will move at 14.23 blocks per second. For reference, while sprinting, you move five blocks per second. This means that on average, a horse is twice as fast as you.
Speed can be increased through status effects, but this will not be calculated into the horse's total speed. If you want a temporary speed buff, try using a splash potion of swiftness.
Jump Strength
A horse can jump anywhere from one to five blocks. In the image above, you can see five blocks stacked on top of each other. This seems incredibly high, but some horses have enough jump strength to clear this.
With an increased jump strength, you can easily scale tall mountains. Additionally, you will be able to jump over fences without needing to go through a gate. This is helpful because, on foot, you will not be able to jump fences. If mobs are chasing after you at night and you are not near a gate, you will be cornered. Having a horse will let you quickly jump the fence and avoid any mobs.
To jump on your horse, you will need to tap the space bar. Underneath your horse's health, you will see a 'jump' bar. Holding the space bar will cause this bar to fill, which essentially charges your jump. The longer you charge the bar, the higher your jump will be.
Health
Unlike the other two stats, you can immediately tell how much health your horse has once you get on it. Horse health will be displayed on the right-hand side of your toolbar, replacing the hunger bar.
A horse can have anywhere between 15 and 30 hearts, with an average of 22.5 hearts. Horse health functions similarly to player health as well.
Health can be lost through fall damage or from attacking mobs. Fortunately, horses are pretty sturdy; fall damage that would usually kill you or leave you at low health will not kill a horse.
You can also equip your horse with armor, which you can find listed below.
- Leather Armor
- Iron Armor
- Gold Armor
- Diamond Armor
The only horse armor that you can craft is the leather variety. To obtain the other horse armor types, you will need to loot chests from structures around the world.
Increasing Horses Stats
Lastly, let's take a look at increasing horse stats. When a horse generates in the world, it will be assigned random stats in the ranges listed above. These stats cannot be changed.
This means that to get a better horse, you will need to breed them.
When you breed two horses, their offspring will average their stats with an additional random stat. This is calculated by adding the stats of the parents together with a third random number and dividing it by three. Overall, you will want to breed horses with high stats to ensure that the horse produced will be strong as well.
The random stat added may produce a new horse with stats better than the parents. Alternatively, it could cause strong parents to create a fairly average horse. For more information, be sure to check out our guide on breeding horses.
That's all there is to know about horse stats and abilities. Now, try to breed the best horse possible with maximum stats!
Next: Minecraft Complete Guide And Walkthrough
