How to Breed Horses in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Tame two horses, then feed each a golden apple or golden carrot to activate love mode. They mate and produce a foal. The foal's health, speed and jump are worked out from both parents' stats by a formula, so breeding good horses can improve the line. Foals take 20 minutes to grow, and feeding them speeds that up.

What you need

2 tamed horses
2 golden carrots or golden apples
Fences or leads to keep the parents together
Optional: hay bales, apples or sugar to grow the foal faster

Step by step

Tame both parents: taming is required to breed a horse. Repeated mounting eventually makes hearts appear above the horse.
Feed each tamed horse a golden carrot or golden apple. Those activate love mode in tamed horses. Plain apples, wheat and sugar do not.
The horses mate and a foal appears, and breeding gives 1-7 XP. The foal usually has the color and markings of one parent, with a 13/45 chance of random ones.
Stats: health, movement speed and jump height are set at birth, not affected by food. For breeding, each stat is calculated by a formula from the parents' stats.
Grow the foal: foals take 20 minutes to mature unless fed. Sugar speeds growth by 30 seconds, wheat 20 seconds, apple and golden carrot by 1 minute, hay bale by 3 minutes and golden apple by 4 minutes.
Keep the best foal and breed it again to improve the line over generations.
Breeding a horse with a donkey gives a mule, which cannot breed.

Java vs Bedrock

Foods and 20-minute foal growth are the same in both editions. Bedrock only: breeding a horse with a donkey unlocks the Artificial Selection achievement, and an untamed adult horse at full health cannot be fed hay.

Versions: Describes the current Java and Bedrock releases. See the edition note above for differences.

Frequently asked questions

What do horses eat to breed?

Golden carrots or golden apples activate love mode in tamed horses. Apples, wheat, sugar and hay bales heal them and speed foal growth, but do not start breeding.

How do I get a faster horse?

Stats are set when a horse is born and are not changed by food. When breeding, each foal stat is calculated by a formula from both parents, so breed your best horses together and keep the best foals.

Can you breed a horse and a donkey?

Yes. The result is a mule. Mules cannot breed.

How long until a foal grows up?

20 minutes if not fed. Feeding reduces it: sugar 30 seconds, wheat 20 seconds, apple or golden carrot 1 minute, hay bale 3 minutes, golden apple 4 minutes.