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From riding horses to getting transportation on tamed donkeys, saddles are a surprisingly valuable resource in Minecraft– and knowing how to make a saddle may just help you survive and defeat nefarious mobs.
Riding with a saddle, and knowing how to make one, comes at a time where Minecraft players really could use some virtual world exploration– I know I could. Following a year of social distancing, many players were disappointed with the announced shutdown of Minecraft Earth for June 2021.
Minecraft Earth was conceptualized as a Pokemon-Go like experience, but by the start of the new year, all microtransactions have been terminated. While there may have been great anticipation for the new program when it was announced in 2019, real-world exploration just hasn’t been a reality.
But if nothing, it’s shown Minecraft players are expansive and helpful. It can be to have a virtual world to explore, one where you can even ride pigs. And knowing how to make a saddle greatly expands that freedom.
Consider this your guide on how to make and use a saddle in Minecraft.
What are saddles used for in Minecraft?
Saddles are one of the most useful things you can make in Minecraft if you care about getting around more quickly. Saddles allow you to ride horses, donkeys, mules, pigs, and even skeleton horses.
Not only can these animals move more quickly than you can only; they can also navigate and leap in difficult terrain, and, in some cases, even help you traverse water.
Horses
Horses are highly useful for you as a player, so long as you have a saddle to ride them. They naturally appear in savannah and plains biomes in herds (as well as in village stables), and come in a wide variety of markings and colors, such as buckskin; chestnut; bay; dapple gray; dark bay, and black.
Once tamed, a horse can be ridden with a saddle to move faster, go over fences, and navigate hilly terrain. They can even go into the water, but only 1 to 2 blocks in depth. I
n addition, horses can be attached to leads and boats. Horses can fit in lower spaces, though at under 2 blocks the player risks dying.
You can hold, and even use objects while riding a horse, making them great for use while evading or attacking mobs. Horses also have an armor slot to protect themselves.
Skeleton Horses
Skeleton Horses are regular horses that have been struck by lightning. However, they are more limiting, as they cannot carry weapons.
Donkeys
Donkeys are another animal in Minecraft you can ride once tamed and with the use of a saddle. Donkeys, like horses, can also be found in plains and savannah regions. They are noticeably smaller than horses and are defined by their elongated ears and drawn on manes.
However, donkeys are faster, and in fact, one of the fastest ways to get around in Minecraft, with the ability to cover regular blocks quickly.
As with a horse, trying to make clearance of blocks under 2 may risk death. Donkeys can jump, climb, and, unlike horses, even travel to the Nether.
You can carry and use any object while riding a donkey, but the donkey itself can help carry an impressive inventory of 15 items at a time. In fact, I consider traveling by donkey one of the best ways to get around in Minecraft.
Mules
Mules come from breeding a horse with a donkey. Because of this, you’re far less likely to come across a mule, which does not naturally spawn, than you would a horse or donkey. However, in many ways, mules have the same features as donkeys, as they can be used both for transportation and carrying many items at a time.
For riding mules with a saddle, mules are still decently quick, though not as quick as donkeys; they also have a slightly less generous clearance level. They can still jump and go up slopes.
You can only have mules carry items, however, with the use of a chest, as opposed to the individual inventory slots that donkeys have. They can hold up to 15 items with the use of the chest, making them still fairly practical.
Pigs
Pigs are the most curious animals you can ride with a saddle in Minecraft and certainly less conventional, on the surface than riding a horse or a mule.
They are considered pretty common and can be found in grassy biomes. Though they are used for both breeding and as a food source, players do have the option to ride them as well.
As you might imagine, pigs are not the quickest animals for transport by the saddle. They can go up to 1 block in water and can get up to 5.2 m/ s, which still beats the regular speed of the player. They can also be encouraged to run up to their full speed by using a carrot on a stick, though it will mean they will not run for as long.
Aside from riding pigs, pigs can be bred, and will also drop as pork chops when they pass away.
What kinds of saddles can you make or find in Minecraft?
You may not be aware that you can actually make a few different kinds of saddles in Minecraft. Mainly, you can craft horse saddles and regular saddles.
As the name implies, horse saddles are specifically catered for riding horses, whereas regular saddles can be used to ride any rideable, tamed animal (pigs, donkeys, and mules). Regardless, both saddle types have the same purpose, which is to ride different types of animals.
How do you make a saddle in Minecraft?
Here’s the trick: unlike many other items, like lanterns, you can’t make a saddle in Minecraft, at least not by the traditional methods of using a crafting table.
Instead, you’ll need to collect and be savvy about the hour you search. Here’s how to make use of a saddle in Minecraft, by searching in the most common locations.
Fishing
One way you can find a saddle in Minecraft is through fishing, which is such an unexpected location that new Minecraft players probably wouldn’t think of it. You can fish in most bodies of water and use a fishing rod.
While fishing, you’ll need to pay close attention to the bobber for any splashing. While it’s very possible you’ll find a fish instead, it’s also possible you’ll be able to snag a saddle. Each try ranges from 5 to 30 seconds before something catches. However, you can help your wait time through to use the lure enchantment.
Typically, you’ll have a very short window of time to reel in your catch once there’s a splash. For a regular rod, you are most likely to catch fish (85 percent of the time) and have a 10 percent chance of generally junk and a 5 percent of other items.
As you can imagine, fishing is not the best way to obtain a saddle, but it’s still a possibility, especially if you plan on fishing anyway.
Chests
Chests can hold everything from treasures to junk, and yes, saddles. If you want to find a saddle in Minecraft, chests are a great bet, and, in some ways, more practical than fishing. Chests can be broken into using different items, but an ax is the most practical and easiest.
If you’re playing in survival mode and really in need of a saddle, I suggest underground tunnels as dungeons as a great location for finding saddles.
Another option is the Nether. The Nether has a fortress that typically is a good source of chests, including those that contain functional saddles.
The tricky part is that these fortresses also tend to spawn mobs, including skeletons, blazes, zombified piglets, and magma cubes, so you need to be prepared.
Villagers
Again, you can’t make a saddle in Minecraft from a crafting table as you can with other items, so your best bet is to find one.
But if you’re like me, you may not be into spending lots of time fishing, and you may not be prepared to traverse the dangers of dungeons and fortresses.
That’s why one of my favorite ways to find a saddle in Minecraft is to go into villages. Villagers own their own barns, so it makes sense that villagers are yet another possible source of saddles in Minecraft.
Saddles can be traded for 6 emeralds once villagers have reached up to level 3. You can reach the desired level from trading and purchasing from villagers. This opens up your chance to buy a saddle outright, and save yourself from fishing or wandering around dungeons to obtain one.
Giving a Saddle to another player
While you can’t directly make a saddle, you can use a cheat to give a saddle to another player in Minecraft. To give a saddle to another player, you’ll have to open up the command center. The give command will work for PC/ Mac, as well as on console, Nintendo Switch, and the Education Edition.
Turn on Cheats
To turn on cheats in Minecraft, navigate to the World Option menu and select Cheats On.
Enter the Give Saddle Command
Now, you’ll need to enter the cheat; command request in your Minecraft game. To do so, you’ll need to open up the chat window using the following controls:
- Java Mac/ PC; Education Edition; Windows 10: T key
- Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PS4: Right arrow/ click on the controller
- Pocket Edition: select the chat button
Next, enter the following command. The player indicates the player’s name you want to give to and amount indicates how many saddles.
/give <player> saddle [amount]
Finally, press enters to execute the command and send the player of your choice a saddle.
FAQs
Question: Can you make a saddle in Minecraft?
Answer: Unlike most desired items in Minecraft, you can’t actually make a saddle. Instead, you have to find a saddle. You can find saddles by fishing, trading with villagers, or hunting for them in chests. Horse saddles can be found from blacksmiths in villages and also dessert temples.
Question: What is the best way to get a saddle in Minecraft?
Answer: While you can get a saddle in Minecraft by fishing, finding them in chests, or even in the Nether, perhaps the best way is to trade for one. A saddle trades for 6 emeralds once you have your villagers at a Level 3 or above.
Question: Do you need a saddle to ride a horse in Minecraft?
Answer: Saddles are especially valuable for riding horses, but also donkeys, mules, and even pigs. For the most part, you will need a saddle to ride a horse, though tamed horses can also be ridden if they are wearing armor.
Question: How do you catch a saddle while fishing?
Answer: If you’ve decided the best way to find a saddle for you is fishing, the key is patience. With a regular fishing rod, you have an 85 percent chance of catching fish; a 10 percent chance of catching trash; and just a 5 percent chance of catching treasure, which includes saddles.
You can increase your chances through enchantments and paying very close attention to your fishing rod. The moment you notice a splash, you’ll need to be quick to reel in and recast as needed. In other words, it’s rare to get a saddle while fishing, but still entirely possible. In terms of probability, and unenchanted rod gives you just a 0.8 percent chance of catching a saddle.
Question: Can you take a saddle from a strider?
Answer: The only other way to get a saddle in Minecraft is to steal one directly. You can take a saddle from a strider using the sneaking interaction and right-click to remove the saddle.
Keep holding down the shift button, or else you’ll end up trying to mount the strider instead. In all, this can be a risky endeavor and is not considered the best way to get a saddle in Minecraft.
Question: How do you befriend a horse in Minecraft?
Answer: Even before you think about finding a saddle in Minecraft, you’ll want to befriend a horse (or another rideable animal). This can be done through taming (as if the case even with other animals, like taming a fox). Horses can be tamed through breeding, providing them equipment, or directly through riding.
Before one can ride a horse, you’ll have to attempt to mount it. Mounting is a process and it is not uncommon to be bucked off many times, depending on the horse’s personality. Personality is measured on a tempered scale from 0 to 100. Temper can be improved by interacting in other ways, especially feeding the horse in between.
Question: Can you ride a horse in water in Minecraft?
Answer: You can, in fact, ride a horse in water in Minecraft, but there’s a limit. You must have the horse both tamed and saddled before attempting to navigate the water. Horses can be ridden in water for up to 2 blocks of depth. After this, you can attach a horse to a boat or may want to navigate to more swallow water.
Question: Which is the fastest horse in Minecraft?
Answer: If one of your main goals in obtaining a saddle in Minecraft is to travel as fast as possible, you may be interested to know that there are some slight variations in speed among the different horse types in Minecraft.
The fastest horses are those that spawn in the wild, as opposed to ones that are bred or raised in villages. In addition, parentage matters as a fowl inherit speed. And if you want an even quicker ride, donkeys can exceed the speed of horses, and also can be used to carry up to 15 items at a time.
Question: What is the rarest type of horse in Minecraft?
Answer: The rarest type of horse in Minecraft is the Skeleton Horse. Skeleton horses are regular horses that have been struck by lightning and are distinguishable from horses with their skeletal appearance. Although you can use a saddle to ride them, these horses are not a great advantage as they do not have inventory.
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Final Thoughts
Though it may be frustrating that you can’t technically make a saddle in Minecraft, the good news is that there are many ways to find a saddle. From bartering with villagers to braving dungeons or trying your luck with finishing, a saddle is the best way to explore the best Minecraft worlds and survive longer.