Finding a horse in Minecraft isn’t the only thing you’ll need to do if you want to ride off on it into the blocky sunset of your world. For that, you’ll need a saddle. Here’s how to get one in Minecraft.
While there are plenty of items that you can craft in Minecraft, for some reason a saddle is actually something you can’t. That isn’t to say that there aren’t plenty of ways of getting one, though. As you’re out an about on your adventures around your world, look out for rare chests. In fact, just open every chest you come across. Your best places to check for chests are in dungeons. Dungeon chests have a 29% chance of spawning a saddle inside, and can be distinguished from regular chests by their surroundings. If you’re the surfaces around you are made of cobblestone and there’s a zombie, skeleton or spider nearby, chances are you’re in a dungeon. This isn’t a guaranteed way of getting one and so you may have to open quite a few before you finally get one, however there are alternatives, too.
If you’re feeling daring, you can also head into the Nether and seek out a Nether fortress. It’s a dangerous place full of challenging enemies, but you have a 35% chance of finding a saddle in a chest in a Nether fortress.
Desert temples, village blacksmiths, and abandoned mineshafts will also sometimes have chests lying around in them. While the percentage chance of finding a saddle in one of these is less than 20%, it’s still worth checking if you happen to stumble upon one.
If you’re having problems finding chests, but manage to find a villager, you can actually get a saddle from them by trading. You’ll need around 15 emeralds to unlock the ability to buy the saddle, plus eight to 10 more to actually buy it when it’s offered. You’ll first have to use some of your Emeralds to buy leather pants and the leather tunic which will appear each time you open the trading window with the villager. On the third time of opening, you should see the saddle is up for trade. Simply give the villager the number of emeralds you want and it’s yours.
