The Minecraft world is full of creatures apart from the player itself, including all sorts of animals, other villagers, monsters from other realms and, in the case of a multiplayer game, other players as well.

Animals, in particular, are pretty helpful when it comes to surviving in Minecraft. They can be harvested for food or collectables such as leather and feathers, later used to craft more items. You can even tame, breed and ride them.

In this article, we’re talking about what do horses eat in Minecraft and how you can feed one. 

Also read: How to make a bow in Minecraft?

Feeding a horse in Minecraft

Before we get started, keep in mind that a horse will only eat if its health bar is down or if it’s a baby horse. In any other case, the horse will simply not eat. 

Here are the foods that you can feed to a horse.

Once you’ve got any of the items in the list mentioned above, you can feed your horse rather easily. All you have to do is approach the horse with the food item in your hand and right-click the horse itself. If the horse is hurt or is a baby, it’ll take food from you.

Do keep in mind that you should be holding the food item while right-clicking the horse. Otherwise, you might just simply end up mounting the horse. 

Also read; What does Impaling do in Minecraft?

How to breed, heal or help horses grow faster? Horse food preferences

Horses have food preferences as well, mainly depending on the situation.

• If you want two of your tamed horses to breed, feeding them Golden Apples and Golden Carrots should get the deed done.
• If you’re just looking to heal them, Hay Bales will do the job just as well.
• If you’re getting your baby horse to grow faster, Golden Apples work best.

However, due to the rarity of items like Golden Apples, Golden Carrots and Sugar, more often than not, you’ll find yourself feeding Hay Bales to your horses, and that’ll work just fine.

Also read: How to make a ladder in Minecraft?