Whether you want to explore your world or escape enemies on Minecraft SMP servers, horses are a great option. But, they are also prone to the same attacks and dangers as you. So, it is vital that you keep them safe during the entire run. Join us to learn how to get horse armor in Minecraft, unlocking extra protection for your riders.
Horse Armor in Minecraft (2023)
Our guide goes over how to make, find, and use horse armor in Minecraft. Explore all the sections to uncover everything you need to know about this protective item.
What is Horse Armor in Minecraft
Horse armor in Minecraft is a unique type of wearable item that you can put on horses. While giving them added protection, it also makes your mobs look more majestic. But, keep in mind that it isn't a replacement for saddles which you still need to ride a horse in Minecraft.
Moreover, you cannot put armor on other mobs that are similar to horses. These include foals, donkeys, mules, skeleton horses, and zombie horses.
Types of Horse Armor
Based on the material, there are four types of horse armor in Minecraft:
- Leather
- Iron
- Gold
- Diamond
At the moment, there is no Netherite or chainmail variant of horse armor in Minecraft. Furthermore, the game only has a crafting recipe for the leather variant and you have to find all the others.
How Much Protection Does It Provide
Much like player armor, the strength of horse armor in Minecraft depends upon the material it is made of. Expanding on the same, each variant offers the following level of protection:
- Leather - 3 Points
- Iron - 5 Points
- Gold - 7 Points
- Diamond - 11 Points
Durability
There is no durability for horse armor in Minecraft. Unless manually destroyed, they last for an infinite amount of time. Consequently, the game doesn't have a mechanic for repairing the same.
Can You Enchant Horse Armor in Minecraft
Unfortunately, you cannot apply any enchantments to horse armor in the survival game mode. But, this restriction doesn't apply within creative mode on the Minecraft Java edition.
On it, you can use creative mode to enchant your horse armor with:
- Depth Strider
- Feather Falling
- Respiration
- Curse of Vanishing
- Thorns
How to Craft Leather Horse Armor
Follow these simple steps to make horse armor in Minecraft:
1. You need seven leather pieces to craft horse armor in your game. The easiest way to get them is by killing cows, Mooshrooms, horses, donkeys, mules, llamas, hoglins, or trader llamas.
2. Open your crafting table and place a piece of leather in the middle of the grid.
3. Then, fill up the left and right column of the 3x3 grid with the remaining leather. With that, your horse armor is ready!
Keep in mind that this crafting recipe only works with leather. You cannot use iron ingots, diamonds, or any other material.
Dye Horse Armor in Minecraft
Much like any other leather item in Minecraft, you can dye a horse armor 12,326,391 in different colors. So, even though they don't support armor trims, customization is a big part of the design of horse armor.
You can combine a dye with horse armor in your crafting grid to change its color. Later, wash the dyed armor using a cauldron to clean it up and undye it.
How to Get Horse Armor in Minecraft
If you want to keep your mobs safe, the leather horse armor isn't going to be a viable option. Luckily, you have the option to explore the world and find stronger variants of the same. Let's explore all the locations where each of them spawn.
Iron or Golden Horse Armor:
- Dungeon (also known as Monster Room)
- Desert Pyramid
- End City
- Jungle Temple
- Nether Fortress
- Stronghold
- Village (Weaponsmith's chest)
- Trial Chamber
Diamond Horse Armor:
Other than all the above-mentioned structures, you can also find diamond horse armor in Ancient Cities of Minecraft. They have the best chances of spawning this rare item in their chests.
Leather Horse Armor:
While leather armor doesn't spawn naturally in the world, you can trade for it with Expert-level leatherworker villagers. They sell one leather horse armor for 6 emeralds.
Ways to Use Horse Armor in Minecraft
Other than protection, you can use the horse armor for a variety of other purposes. These include:
- Decoration: You can display horse armor on an armor stand in Minecraft Bedrock.
- Smelting: When you smelt a golden or iron horse armor in a furnace or blast furnace, they give out nuggets.
- Piglins: Thanks to their love for gold, Piglins run towards golden horse armor. But, they don't offer any items in return as Piglin trades in Minecraft only work with gold ingots.
Wolf Armor in Minecraft
When it comes to making friends in Minecraft, horses and wolves are often the top contenders. So, it’s no surprise that Minecraft 1.21 is bringing protection for your wolves too. Thanks to the new Armadillo mobs, you will be able to get scutes that can be crafted into wolf armor in Minecraft.
While it won’t have variants like horse armor, this layer of protection for wolves is sure to affect combat. Currently, most players end up spending more time protecting the wolves rather than relying upon them.
Can Other Mobs Wear Armor
Currently, only horses and wolves can wear armor in Minecraft. But, you can use a Potion of Healing to keep other mobs safe and restore their health.
Find and Use Horse Armor in Minecraft
With that, you can now sit back and enjoy safer journeys all across the world. If you don’t know where to go our list of best Minecraft survival seeds is a great place to start. All of them offer fun and unique challenges for players to test their skills with. But, if you want something more reliable than the best Minecraft village seeds might be a better pick. With that said, which method to get horse armor in Minecraft are you using? Share your choice on our Minecraft Discord server!