Minecraft: Can horses go in boats?

An image of a Minecraft horse on a boat.
Credit: Mojang Studios, Xbox Game Studios


An image of a Minecraft horse on a boat.
Credit: Mojang Studios, Xbox Game Studios

When travelling in Minecraft, animals make it easier for players to cross lands and tread the most challenging biomes. With horses especially, you can cover great distances in a short amount of time. But what about travelling over the waters? This guide will answer your queries on bringing your Minecraft horses in boats.

Horses were first introduced in the Minecraft 1.6 update. They're a type of passive mob that players can ride once tamed. Additionally, they can also carry a chest to hold some items.

What features do horses have in Minecraft?

Minecraft horses come in different colours and patterns. They are usually found naturally spawning in the biomes such as the plains and savannas. But that doesn't mean they can only spawn in these two specific biomes.

An official image of Steve riding a horse in Mineceraft.
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Credit: Mojang Studios, Xbox Game Studios

Players can also tame horses in-game. To tame a wild horse, players must approach it slowly and right-click the horse with an empty hand or holding items such as apples or wheat. Once a player has tamed their horse, they can put on saddles to ride them and equip them with horse armour. Another notable feature is that they can be equipped with a chest to carry extra inventory items.

Mainly, horses are used as a means of transportation in Minecraft as they are faster than players walking or using minecarts. They can also jump over obstacles and small bodies of water (depending on their jumping attributes). This makes horses crucial for exploration in-game.

What features do boats have in Minecraft?

Boats are mainly used for water transportation in Minecraft. Typically crafted from any kind of wooden planks, boats can come in a variety of colours depending on the type of wooden planks used.

A screenshot of Minecraft players on their boats.
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Players can place a boat in the water and ride on it to cross rivers, lakes, oceans, and other similar bodies of water. Players can control their boats by looking in the direction they want to travel and using movement keys to control them as well.

Another thing to take note of in boats is that they have limited durability and they can break or be destroyed if they collide with solid objects such as blocks at high speeds. The drowned mobs with tridents can also launch their tridents at player boats, destroying them.

Furthermore, players can also carry some passive mobs on their boats such as cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens. Players would have to push or lead the mob into their boat. Similarly, some hostile mobs can also be lured to ride on a boat such as zombies, skeletons, and ender man.

Can Minecraft horses go in boats?

Now that you know the basic information you need to know on Minecraft horses and boats, we'll now get to the nagging question if Minecraft horses can go in boats.

A screenshot of trying to get a horse on a boat in Minecraft.
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While baby horses can still ride boats, adult horses cannot ride boats anymore in both Java and Bedrock editions as of 2023. This used to be available in earlier versions of the game. Players can only pull and tie up their horses using lead such as towing their horses to swim behind a boat or players can attack the lead to the boat itself.

It's quite unfortunate that horses can't be added to boats anymore. Perhaps consider bringing some lead with you and some blocks to build across larger bodies of water. but if you think your journey will also include passing through an ocean, maybe consider leaving your horse to avoid any hassle with bringing your horse.

That's all the information we have on Minecraft horses going in boats in Minecraft. While you're still here, consider checking out our other pieces on the game such as can you tame ocelots and can you grow trees underground.

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