How to Make a Saddle in Minecraft

Exploring the diverse biomes in Minecraft on foot might be a bit tiresome in survival mode. So, why not make use of the rideable animals in the game? For that, the only item you must acquire is a saddle, which can be used on horses, camels, or even donkeys to make your Overworld exploration a bit easier. But how do you get a saddle? Can you craft it? Let’s answer all these questions and find out how to make a saddle in Minecraft here.

What is a Saddle in Minecraft

A saddle is a utility item in Minecraft that allows you to ride some friendly animal mobs like Horses, Donkeys, and so on. Moreover, you can use this item to control the mobs that can be ridden in the game.

The saddle’s texture might resemble the leather gears in the game. However, it cannot be dyed or given any sort of pattern using the Minecraft armor trims.

How to Craft a Saddle in Minecraft

Unfortunately, the saddle can’t be crafted on the crafting table and can be obtained only through treasures. So, get ready to explore the world and find some loot chests that have the best chances of granting you a saddle. Here are the four best methods to make a saddle in Minecraft:

1. Looting Chests

You can find a saddle in various chests in all the game’s dimensions. They often spawn in the following locations:

• Monster Room
• Dungeon
• Ancient City
• Bastion Remnant (Hoglin Stable)
• Desert Temple
• End City
• Jungle Temple
• Nether Fortress
• Stronghold (Altar)
• Village (Weaponsmith, Savanna, and Tanner houses)

Chests in Nether Fortress have the highest drop rate of the saddles. So, the fastest way of getting one might be going straight to the Nether dimension using the Nether portal.

2. By Fishing

Similar to other treasure items, you can catch saddles while fishing in the overworld waterbodies. However, note that it has a spawn rate of 0.8%. So, creating an AFK fish farm in Minecraft is highly recommended rather than catching it manually. While it will take some time, you will have a lot of other items by the time you catch a saddle.

3. Mob Loot

Another reliable method to find saddles is killing Striders and Ravagers. The former only equips a saddle when it spawns with a zombified piglin riding on its back. Whereas the latter always spawn with a saddle, you have to trigger a raid to make them spawn.

You can even make farms for either of these mobs to get loads of Saddles as and when required. Furthermore, if you are playing on the best Minecraft survival servers, you can kill other players’ saddled mobs to obtain their saddles.

4. Trading with Villagers

Being leather-like items, saddles are available as tradable items by master-level leatherworker villagers. They sell saddles for six emeralds. This is a guaranteed trade on the Java edition, but Bedrock users will only see it around half of the time. Not to forget, you can quickly set up a villager trading hall to get saddles and emeralds with easy trades.

How to Use a Saddle to Ride Minecraft Mobs

Having obtained a saddle, you must be wondering how to use it. So, before jumping straight into using a saddle, let’s have a look at all the mobs you can ride first:

• Pigs
• Striders
• Camels
• Horses
• Skeleton Horses
• Donkeys
• Mules

One important note about these mobs is that most of them don’t function in the same way. For example, you must tame a horse in Minecraft before using the saddle. Plus, mobs like pigs and striders require bait (carrot on a stick or fungus on a stick) to control them even after placing a saddle.

However, if you want to break away from these limitations, the Minecraft ride command will allow you to ride any mob in the game. Not only that, but it also looks rather silly and entertaining. Now, let’s go over the two main ways to equip a saddle onto a mob.

1. Using the Saddle Slot

Some mobs, like the Horses, Camels, and Donkeys, have a saddle slot. So, if you want to use this method, follow the steps below:

• First, right-click or use the secondary action key on the mob to start riding it. Make sure that you don’t have anything equipped in your hands before riding the mob for the first time.

• Once tamed, press the E or dedicated inventory keys to open up your Minecraft inventory. You will also see the inventory of that mob. Now, place the saddle in the saddle slot of the mob.

• With the saddle in place, you can use your movement keys to make the mob move around. Moreover, you can remove the saddle from the inventory slot if you want to get the saddle back.

2. Direct Placement

This is the simplest way to equip a saddle, that is, by placing it on the mob. This method works for all rideable mobs in-game. But mobs like horses must be tamed before they can be ridden. With that said, here’s how to directly place a saddle on a mob:

• First, find a rideable mob and get in its proximity.
• Next, place the saddle using the right-click or secondary action key while holding it. Then, use the right-click again to start riding the saddled mob.

3. Using Dispensers

The last method is unconventional and not ideal, but it apparently works in the game. You can also use a Minecraft dispenser to put a saddle on your mobs. Here’s how it works:

• First, place a dispenser one block above the ground and put a saddle in it.

• Then, get your mob right in front of the dispenser’s face.

• Finally, activate the dispenser using a Redstone torch, button, or lever. Then, the dispenser will put the saddle on your mob.

And that’s how you craft and use saddles in Minecraft. Remember that riding Minecraft mobs around the overworld might be easy. However, it’s not the fastest way for exploration. We recommend using the Elytra in Minecraft at a later stage in your game.

So, what do you think of the ways to obtain a Saddle in the game, and is there anything we are missing out on? Let us know in the comments below!