You need a saddle to ride horses, but you cannot craft one — you have to find it

A saddle is an item in Minecraft that lets you ride and control horses, donkeys, mules, llamas, camels, and pigs. Unlike most items in Minecraft, you cannot make a saddle at a crafting table or furnace. Instead, you find saddles in specific places around your world, or you trade for them with villagers. Once you have one, you place it on a tamed animal and then ride it by right-clicking (or using your interact button on console).

The fastest way to get a saddle depends on what you have access to. If you have found a village, trading with a leather worker is usually quickest. If you have not, you will need to search structures like dungeons, temples, or shipwrecks.

Key Takeaways

  • Saddles cannot be crafted and must be found in the world or obtained through trading with a leather worker villager.
  • Dungeons, desert temples, jungle temples, nether fortresses, and shipwrecks all contain saddles in their chests.
  • A leather worker villager will trade a saddle for 10 emeralds, which you can earn by trading other items to different villagers.
  • Once you place a saddle on a tamed horse, donkey, mule, llama, camel, or pig, you can ride it by right-clicking and steer it with movement keys.
  • You cannot control the direction a saddled pig moves without a carrot on a stick, but horses and other animals respond to your keyboard or controller input.

Finding saddles in dungeons and temples

The most common way to find a saddle is to search dungeons, which are small underground structures with stone brick walls and a spawner block in the middle. Dungeons always have one or two chests. Open every chest you find — saddles appear in dungeon chests about 28% of the time. You will also find other useful items like iron ingots, enchanted books, and food.

Desert temples and jungle temples also contain saddles. A desert temple is a large sandy pyramid with a blue wool block hidden inside a trap room. A jungle temple is a stone structure hidden in jungle biomes, also with traps. Both have multiple chests scattered throughout. The saddle spawn rate is lower in temples than in dungeons, but the temples often have other valuable loot like diamonds and enchanted gear.

Nether fortresses (structures made of nether brick in the Nether dimension) and shipwrecks (sunken wooden ships in oceans) both have saddles in their chests as well, though you are less likely to find them there than in dungeons.

Trading emeralds for a saddle with a leather worker

If you find a village, you can trade with a leather worker (also called a leatherworker) to get a saddle without searching for chests. A leather worker is a villager who wears a brown apron and works at a cauldron. Right-click the leather worker and open their trade menu. They will offer a saddle in exchange for 10 emeralds.

Getting 10 emeralds takes time but is reliable. You earn emeralds by trading items to other villagers. A farmer will buy wheat, carrots, potatoes, or beetroot for emeralds. A librarian will sell enchanted books for emeralds, but also buys paper, books, and ink sacs. A cleric buys redstone, lapis lazuli, and other materials. Collect these items and trade them to villagers until you have 10 emeralds, then trade those to the leather worker for your saddle.

Taming a horse before you saddle it

Before you can ride any animal, you must tame it first. For horses, taming means right-clicking the horse repeatedly with an empty hand until hearts appear above its head. This usually takes 5 to 10 clicks. Once tamed, the horse will have a saddle icon appear on its inventory screen (which you open by right-clicking the horse after it is tamed).

Donkeys and mules also need to be tamed the same way. Llamas and camels can be tamed but do not need a saddle to be ridden — you can ride them without one, though a saddle makes it easier to control them. Pigs are different: you do not tame a pig, but you can put a saddle on one and then control it with a carrot on a stick (a fishing rod with a carrot attached).

Placing the saddle on your animal

Once you have a saddle and a tamed horse (or donkey or mule), right-click the animal to open its inventory. You will see a saddle slot at the top left of the inventory screen. Click the saddle in your own inventory and then click the saddle slot in the animal's inventory. The saddle will appear on the animal's back.

You can now right-click the animal to ride it. Your view will shift to the animal's perspective. Use your normal movement keys (W, A, S, D on keyboard, or your controller's movement stick) to move forward, backward, and turn. The animal will follow your input. To get off, press the sneak key (Shift on keyboard, or the button your game is set to for sneaking).

Controlling different animals with a saddle

Horses, donkeys, and mules all respond directly to your movement keys when saddled. They move where you point them and stop when you stop. You can also make them jump by pressing the spacebar (or your jump button) while riding.

Llamas and camels work the same way — they respond to your movement input when saddled. Pigs, however, do not respond to movement keys alone. To steer a saddled pig, you need a carrot on a stick, which is a fishing rod with a carrot attached to it using an anvil. Hold the carrot on a stick in your hand while riding the pig, and the pig will move toward the carrot. This makes pigs much slower and harder to control than horses, so most players use horses for transportation instead.

What to do if you lose your saddle

If your saddled animal dies, the saddle will drop on the ground as an item. Pick it up and place it on another animal. If you accidentally drop a saddle in water or lava, it will burn up in lava but float in water — swim down and grab it before it despawns (disappears after 5 minutes).

If you have already used your only saddle and cannot find another one, your best option is to trade with a leather worker if you have access to a village. Otherwise, continue exploring dungeons and temples until you find another saddle chest. Keep in mind that saddles are not rare enough to worry about — most players find multiple saddles during normal exploration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I craft a saddle at a crafting table?

No. Saddles cannot be crafted in Minecraft. You must find them in chests or trade for them with a leather worker villager. This is one of the few items in the game with no crafting recipe.

What animals can I ride with a saddle?

Horses, donkeys, mules, llamas, and camels all use saddles. Pigs can wear saddles but need a carrot on a stick to be steered. Sheep, cows, and other animals cannot be saddled.

How many emeralds does a leather worker want for a saddle?

A leather worker trades a saddle for 10 emeralds. This is a fixed price and does not change. You earn emeralds by trading crops, books, and other items to other villagers in the same village.

What happens if my horse dies while I am riding it?

You will be thrown off and take fall damage. The saddle will drop on the ground as an item. Pick it up and place it on a new tamed horse, or keep it in your inventory for later use.

Do I need a saddle to ride a llama or camel?

No. Llamas and camels can be ridden without a saddle once they are tamed. A saddle makes them easier to control, but it is not required like it is for horses and donkeys.