Icy's Better Horses

Icy's Better Horses

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> ⚠️ Required dependencies: GeckoLib and Modonomicon. Minecraft 1.20.1 uses Patchouli instead of Modonomicon. Fabric versions also require Fabric API.

A complete overhaul of horse progression, travel, breeding, ownership, and mounted gameplay for Minecraft.

Icy's Better Horses turns horses from disposable transport into long-term companions. Tame a horse, build a bond with it, equip it for the journey, breed stronger foals, pull carts, fight from the saddle, and keep track of every horse you own.

Only interested in the models and animations? Check out Icy's Horse Breeds instead.

Breeds, classes, and genetics

Better Horses adds fifteen real horse breeds, each with its own models, coat palettes, biome ranges, stats, class, and special ability.

The five horse classes are built for different jobs:

• Race horses focus on speed.
• War horses are dependable in combat.
• Western horses are versatile working mounts.
• Draft horses are powerful, durable, and able to pull large wagons.
• Pony breeds are smaller, agile, and useful in tighter spaces.

Every horse carries persistent genetics for its gender, breed, coat, health, speed, and jump strength. Foals inherit traits from their parents, mixed breeds are possible, and careful breeding can produce horses stronger than either parent.

Each breed also has its own ability that improves as your bond grows. These range from combat and survival perks to faster bonding, healing, terrain resistance, herding, wall-breaking, and more.

The full breed list, coat variations, abilities, and spawn biomes are available in the Stable Handbook and on the official wiki.

Ownership and bonding

Taming a horse makes it permanently yours and activates the rest of the mod for that horse.

Every owned horse has a bond level from 0 to 100. Spending time nearby, brushing it, naming it, and feeding it golden apples raises its bond. Every 20 bond grants a speed and jump bonus, reaching +75% at maximum bond.

Owned horses also gain:

• Protection against other players taking the reins or removing their equipment
• A radial command wheel with Follow, Stay, Wander, Set Home, and Return Home
• Whistling, allowing your active horse to return to you
• A live horse roster containing every horse you own
• The ability to trust selected players with /horse trust <player>
• Revival through the roster if horse revival is enabled

Your roster shows each horse's location and status. From there, you can set an active horse, whistle it, send it home, disown it, or bring back a fallen companion.

Better riding and travel

Better Horses removes much of the friction from mounted travel:

• Four gaits: Walk, Trot, Canter, and Gallop
• Auto-ride: Double-tap forward and steer with the mouse
• Free look: Look around without immediately turning your horse
• Improved swimming: Horses float instead of sinking
• Leaf passthrough: Ride through foliage without getting stuck
• Raised step height: Walk over small elevation changes without jumping
• Mounted mining: Break most blocks at normal speed while riding
• Horse transparency: Look down to fade your horse and see the ground beneath you
• Two riders: Bring another player along as a passenger
• Rearing: Make your horse rear on command

Hold an Upgraded Saddle while looking at a horse to inspect its gender, breed, coat, bond, health, speed, and jump before deciding whether to tame it.

Tack, storage, and carts

The Upgraded Saddle unlocks the horse's equipment and stats screen.

Depending on the horse and version, equipment includes:

• A Chest or Ender Chest for portable storage
• Horseshoes for safer footing, reduced fall damage, and Frost Walker support
• A Medkit that automatically activates when the horse is badly hurt
• A Glidewing Harness that deploys during dangerous falls
• Carpet blankets and decorative banners
• A Horse Cart for passengers, cargo, or farming

Carts can carry players and mobs, hold a double chest, or take a hoe to become a working plough. Draft horses can upgrade their cart into a larger six-seat wagon with additional cargo space.

Mounted combat