Minecraft
Genre: Open-World-Survival
Studio: Mojang
Publisher: Mojang
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Genre: Open-World-Survival
Studio: Mojang
Publisher: Mojang
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Minecraft Saddle

Saddles in Minecraft are less about ‘owning a horse’ and more about unlocking movement you can’t get on foot. With a single item you turn lava lakes into highways, deserts into express lanes and cave raids into swift retreats. This guide focuses on what the Minecraft saddle actually changes in your gameplay – where it speeds you up, when you’ll still need steering tools and how the newer harness for the happy ghast fits alongside it – so you can pick the right mount for the job and get moving instead of grinding for drops.

The Minecraft Saddle Basics

A Minecraft saddle lets you ride and control different ground mounts:

  • horse
  • donkey
  • mule
  • camel (supports two riders; the front rider steers)

In Java, it’s also required to control:

Additionally, you can apply a Minecraft saddle to:

Here, however, you’ll need extra gear in the form of a carrot on a stick or a warped fungus on a stick, to steer these mobs.

You cannot saddle or ride the ender dragon in vanilla survival.

Recent Changes – 1.21.6 Highlights

Patch 1.21.6 made Minecraft saddles craftable! Before that, the only way to possess one was to find it. Now, the recipe unlocks when you first pick up leather. The patch also enabled shearing to remove saddles, armor or carpets from many mobs and adjusted some loot tables to give leather instead of Minecraft saddles in several structures. Most importantly for some players: it introduced the minecraft saddle for a happy ghast and its rideable harness system.

Ways to Get a Minecraft Saddle

Until recently, the only way to get a Minecraft saddle was to find it. A mission that was not impossible, it was still not always easy and often depending on luck. With the ‘Chase the Skies’ drop, the rules on how to find a saddle in Minecraft have changed. So, here is a recent list on where to ‘find’ a Minecraft saddle:

  • in chestsnether fortress, bastion remnant (hoglin stable chests), end city, villages (e.g. weaponsmith, tannery, savanna house)
  • through fishing (Minecraft saddle fishing chance: 0,8%; increases to 1.9% with a fishing rod enchanted with Luck of the Sea III)
  • through mob drops – ravagers, striders that spawn as a jockey
  • through villager trading with a master leatherworker

Structures like dungeons or monster rooms, desert and jungle temples, the stronghold altar and some others were updated to give leather instead. While this means less places to find a Minecraft saddle, it also means more places to get the material you need because the other way to obtain it is by crafting.

New: Minecraft Saddle Crafting

Luckily, the whole process of Minecraft saddle crafting is easy and straightforward. All you need are two materials that you can obtain early on in the game. All you have to do is put them in the crafting window and there you go:

3x leather + 1x iron ingot = 1x Minecraft saddle

The Minecraft saddle recipe

Collect leather by roaming villages or sacrificing some cows. Then go mine for some iron and smelt it into ingots. That’s all. Easy. The recipe book will do the rest, since you unlock the Minecraft saddle recipe when you find leather for the first time.

The ‘Minecraft Saddle for a Ghast ’ Aka the Harness

The colloquially called ‘ghast saddle’ you may hear about is officially named harness. Since it is still used to ‘ride’ the mob and steer it, we’ll include it here. The recipe is a bit different than the regular Minecraft saddle but not much more difficult:

3x leather + 2x glass + 1x wool (any color) = 1x harness

The Minecraft happy ghast saddle recipe

You know how to get leather and wool, right? Remember, the wool color sets the harness color. This means you have many options here. Lastly, glass. Go to the nearest beach, dig up some sand and smelt it. Done. Up to four players can ride a happy ghast once it’s wearing a ‘Minecraft ghast saddle’ and you can remove it with shears

How to Use a Saddle in Minecraft (Per Mount)

Sadly, it is not always that easy to just put the Minecraft saddle on the mob and enjoy. Once you have the item, the steps vary slightly by mob and edition:

  • horses / donkeys / mules: tame it first, then open the mount’s inventory and place the Minecraft saddle, control it directly with movement keys
  • camel: open the camel’s inventory and add the saddle, two players can ride, the front rider steers
  • pig: saddle the pig, then hold a carrot on a stick to steer, right-clicking consumes durability for a brief speed boost
  • strider: saddle the strider, then hold a warped fungus on a stick to steer across lava
  • skeleton horse: in Java, you need a saddle to control it; in Bedrock, it’s controllable without a saddle

The processes are quite similar and easy to remember. Still, a Minecraft saddle offers a whole new perspective to moving around your world.

Tip:Dispensers can equip saddles onto eligible mobs, which is handy for contraptions and minigames.

Re-Using and Removing the Minecraft Saddle

You can re-use Minecraft saddles freely. Remove them from mounts with an inventory (horse and camel) right there. For pigs, striders and similar, use shears to pop the saddle off. Harnesses can likewise be removed from a happy ghast with shears when no one’s riding. Then, just put it on the mount you want to use instead or store it in your inventory for later use.

FAQ

How to make a Minecraft saddle?

Craft a saddle in Minecraft at a crafting table with 3x leather + 1x iron ingot. The recipe unlocks when you pick up leather for the first time.

What animals can you ride in Minecraft?

Horse, donkey, mule, camel, pig, strider, skeleton horse (plus the happy ghast with a harness).

How to use a saddle in Minecraft?

Equip it on a rideable mob to control movement. Some require specific additional gear.

How to put a saddle on a horse in Minecraft?

Tame the horse, then open its inventory (while mounted or while sneaking) and place the saddle in the saddle slot. Then, ride and steer normally.

How to saddle a camel in Minecraft?

Open the camel’s inventory and place a Minecraft saddle. Camels carry two players were the front rider steers.

How to saddle a happy ghast in Minecraft ?

Use a harness crafted with 3x leather + 2x glass + 1x wool. Equip it to the happy ghast, and up to four players can ride.

How to saddle a dragon in Minecraft?

You can’t in vanilla survival. The ender dragon is not rideable or saddleable without commands, datapacks or mods.

How to remove a saddle in Minecraft?

From horses and camels, take it out via the mount’s inventory. From pigs, striders and most others, use shears (from update 1.21.6 onward). Ravagers are the exception and can’t be sheared.

Conclusion: Minecraft Saddle

Minecraft saddles have shifted from a loot-lottery item to a basic utility: you can craft them, remove them cleanly and re-use them across mounts. Pair your saddle with the right control item on a stick or, if you’re headed skyward, craft a harness for the happy ghast. Either way, mounts are now easier to manage and more fun to use in everyday survival on your Minecraft server from GPORTAL. So, what are you waiting for?

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