To breed horses in Minecraft, tame two adult horses by climbing on each one until hearts appear, then feed each horse one golden carrot or one golden apple. Keep the two horses close together. Red hearts float above them, they walk to each other, and a foal appears beside them.
Breeding needs a golden carrot or a golden apple. Plain carrots, apples, wheat, sugar and hay bales are everyday horse food that heals horses and helps a foal grow, but none of them makes a foal. You also do not need a saddle, because you tame a horse by riding it without one.
The short version
- Tame first: climb on each adult horse with an empty hand until hearts appear.
- Breeding food: one golden carrot or one golden apple for each parent. Plain horse food never starts breeding.
- Breeding again: wait about 5 minutes in Java Edition and about 1 minute in Bedrock Edition.
- Raising the foal: it grows up in about 20 minutes, faster with hay bales and other horse food.
- Mules: a horse and a donkey make a mule, and a mule cannot breed.
What you need to breed horses
You need two adult horses that you have tamed, plus two pieces of golden food: two golden carrots, two golden apples, or one of each. A foal cannot breed and neither can a wild horse, so both parents must be fully grown and tamed before you spend any gold.
A pen makes the job easier, because tamed horses still wander off. If your horses drift apart, make a fence for a small pen and close the gate before you feed them. A lead is the simplest way to walk a horse into that pen, and our guide shows how to make a lead in Minecraft.
Find and tame two adult horses
Horses live in plains and savannas, usually in small herds of two to six, and they also turn up in villages. A herd often includes young foals, which are easy to spot because they are smaller. Pick two full-grown horses, because a foal cannot be ridden until it grows up.
Empty your hand first, then walk up to a horse and use it to climb on. With a mouse, the use button is the right mouse button by default. On a phone or tablet, tap the Mount button, and on a controller press the button the game shows on screen.
A wild horse usually bucks and throws you off the first few times. Climb straight back on and keep trying. When the horse accepts you, red hearts appear around it and it stops bucking, which means it is tamed. Tame the second horse the same way.
A stubborn horse tames faster if you feed it first. Wheat, sugar, apples, carrots, golden carrots and golden apples all make a wild horse more willing, and a golden apple helps the most. Feeding golden food to a wild horse never starts breeding, though, because it is not tamed yet.
Make golden carrots or golden apples
A golden carrot is one carrot surrounded by eight gold nuggets. Open a crafting table, put the carrot in the middle square of the 3 by 3 grid, and put one gold nugget in each of the eight squares around it. The result is one golden carrot.
A golden apple uses the same pattern with bigger pieces of gold. Put one apple in the middle square and one gold ingot in each of the eight squares around it to get one golden apple. Keep any enchanted golden apple you find for something else, because it is far too rare to spend on a foal.
Golden carrots are the better buy. A pair of golden carrots takes 16 gold nuggets, while a pair of golden apples takes 16 whole gold ingots. A master farmer villager may also sell three golden carrots for three emeralds, and golden apples sometimes turn up as treasure in chests in dungeons, ocean ruins and desert pyramids.
Breed the horses
Stand next to the first tamed horse, hold a golden carrot or golden apple, and use it on the horse the same way you climbed on. On a touch screen, tap the Feed button instead. Red hearts start to float above the horse. Feed the second horse straight away while the first one still shows hearts.
The two horses walk toward each other, and a few moments later a foal appears between them. Each golden item is used up when a horse eats it. Horses that are fed far apart may not reach each other before their hearts fade, so feed them inside the same pen or within a few blocks of each other.
Once the foal arrives, both parents need a rest before they can breed again. That rest is about five minutes in Java Edition and about one minute in Bedrock Edition, and golden food given during it does not start breeding.
What horses eat in Minecraft
Horses, donkeys and mules eat the same foods, and each food does a different job. Some heal, some help a foal grow, some make a wild horse easier to tame, and breeding takes a golden carrot or a golden apple. The chart in the next section shows how much time each food takes off a foal's growth, and the same foods speed up foals in Java Edition too.
| Food | Starts breeding | Grows a foal faster | Other uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden carrot | Yes | Yes | Heals, helps taming |
| Golden apple | Yes | Yes | Heals, helps taming the most |
| Hay bale | No | Yes | Heals up to 10 hearts |
| Apple | No | Yes | Heals, helps taming |
| Carrot | No | Yes | Heals, helps taming |
| Sugar | No | Yes | Heals, helps taming |
| Wheat | No | Yes | Heals, helps taming |
| Golden dandelion | No | No, it stops growth until you feed a second one | Keeps a foal small |
The best everyday food is the hay bale. One hay bale takes three minutes off a foal's growth in Bedrock Edition and heals a horse by up to 10 hearts, and each bale packs nine wheat into one block. Plain carrots joined the horse menu in Java Edition in 2025, so an older guide may leave them out.
How to raise a foal
A foal grows up by itself in about 20 minutes of play. It follows its parents around and cannot be ridden or bred until it is an adult. You can speed it up by feeding it, and in Bedrock Edition seven hay bales are enough to turn a newborn foal into an adult straight away.
A foal born to tamed parents is not tamed itself. Once it grows up, climb on with an empty hand and tame it like any wild horse, and expect it to buck a few times first. To steer it after that, use our guide to make or find a saddle in Minecraft, since a horse without a saddle cannot be steered.
Keep a foal small with a golden dandelion
A golden dandelion stops a foal from growing up. Feed one to a foal and it stays a foal, then feed it a second golden dandelion when you want it to start growing again. It works on other baby animals too, and it does not shorten the parents' wait before they can breed again.
To craft one, put a dandelion in the middle square of a crafting table and one gold nugget in each of the eight squares around it. The recipe unlocks after you breed your first animal. The golden dandelion arrived in both editions with the Tiny Takeover game drop, so if it is missing, update Minecraft on your device and check the recipe again.
Breed donkeys and make a mule
Donkeys are tamed and bred the same way as horses, with the same golden carrots and golden apples. Two tamed adult donkeys make a baby donkey. A tamed adult horse and a tamed adult donkey make a mule.
A mule cannot breed. A golden carrot or golden apple still heals a mule, but it never brings out breeding hearts, so a mule is the end of the line. Keep a tamed donkey and a tamed horse in your stable if you want more mules later.
Breed faster horses that jump higher
Every horse has its own health, speed and jump height. A foal's three stats are a mix of its parents' stats with some random variation, so it can come out a little better or a little worse than its parents. Both editions have worked this way since 2023, and some older guides still describe a rule that averages in a third, random horse.
To breed a faster horse, pick your two fastest horses as parents, keep the best foal, and breed it with your next best horse once it is grown and tamed. Repeat that over several generations. Starting with good parents and enough golden carrots, this is a good way to get great horses.
With a saddle on, the easiest way to compare two horses is to ride each one over the same stretch of ground and try the same jump. Coat color and markings are random too, and a foal can come out a color that neither parent has, so pick parents by how they ride rather than how they look.
Why your horses are not breeding
If no hearts appear, check the horse first. It must be tamed, fully grown and a horse or donkey, not a mule. A horse you bred yourself is not tamed until you tame it as an adult, which catches many players out.
Next, check the food. Breeding takes a golden carrot or a golden apple, while a plain carrot or apple is eaten for healing or growth and a golden dandelion is meant for foals. If only one horse shows hearts, the other one was not fed, is still resting after a foal, or cannot breed.
Finally, check the wait and the distance. The parents of a recent foal must rest first, as the breeding step above explains. Hearts also fade after a while, so feed both horses one after the other inside the same pen.
Horse breeding in Java and Bedrock
Taming, breeding food, foal care and the mule rule are the same in both editions. The real difference is the rest after a foal, about five minutes in Java Edition and about one minute in Bedrock Edition. On a touch screen, Bedrock Edition also shows Mount and Feed buttons for climbing on and feeding.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you breed horses in Minecraft?
Tame two adult horses by climbing on each one until hearts appear. Then feed each horse a golden carrot or a golden apple, keep them close, and a foal appears between them.
Do I need a saddle to breed horses?
No. You tame a horse by climbing on with an empty hand, and breeding only needs golden food. A saddle is for steering a tamed horse once you want to ride it somewhere.
Can horses breed with normal carrots or apples?
No. Plain carrots, apples, wheat, sugar and hay bales heal horses and help foals grow. Breeding needs a golden carrot or a golden apple.
How long does a baby horse take to grow up?
About 20 minutes on its own. Feeding speeds it up, and in Bedrock Edition seven hay bales turn a newborn foal into an adult at once. A golden dandelion stops the growth until you feed it a second one.
How long until my horses can breed again?
About five minutes in Java Edition and about one minute in Bedrock Edition. Golden food given during that wait does not start breeding.
Does a golden apple make a better foal than a golden carrot?
No. Both start breeding the same way, and the foal's stats come from its parents, not from the food. Golden carrots cost far less gold, so they are the better choice.
Can a mule breed?
No. A horse and a donkey make a mule, but a mule cannot have a foal of its own. Two donkeys make a baby donkey instead.
Why can I not ride the horse I bred?
A foal cannot be ridden until it grows up, and it is not tamed even when its parents are. Once it is an adult, climb on with an empty hand until hearts appear, then add a saddle to steer it.