[!IMPORTANT]
\n**GECKOLIB IS REQUIRED DEPENDENCY FOR THIS MOD.** <\/p>\n
I’m a pretty new mod developer and this is one of my first major projects. I’m still learning 3D modelling, so some of the current modelsand textures are pretty rough right now, so volunteers are welcome to message me on discord or patreon!<\/p>\n
**Support the project on Patreon and join the Discord Community to help make Better Horses even better.**<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
# Better Horses \u2014 Feature Overview<\/p>\n
**Better Horses** is a Minecraft mod designed to make horses feel like true long-term companions rather than disposable early-game transport. The mod focuses on fixing vanilla frustrations around horse travel, improving mobility, adding meaningful progression systems, and introducing utility mechanics that make investing in a horse worthwhile.<\/p>\n
## Ownership System<\/p>\n
Once a horse is fully tamed, it becomes **marked as owned** by the player.<\/p>\n
Owned horses unlock:<\/p>\n
* A **Radial Command Wheel** (opened with **Ctrl + Right Click**)
\n* A **Horse Whistle** (press **P**) to instantly call your horse to you<\/p>\n
### Radial Command Wheel Commands<\/p>\n
* **Follow** \u2192 Horse follows the player
\n* **Stay** \u2192 Horse remains in place
\n* **Return Home** \u2192 Horse returns to its assigned home location
\n* **Set Home** \u2192 Assign a home location for your horse<\/p>\n
## Bonding System<\/p>\n
Inspired by *Red Dead Redemption*, horses now feature a **Bonding System** that ranges from **0\u2013100**.<\/p>\n
Every **20 bond levels** grants stat bonuses:<\/p>\n
* Increased movement speed
\n* Increased jump height<\/p>\n
### Bond Gains<\/p>\n
* Naming your horse with a **Name Tag** \u2192 **+10 Bond**
\n* Feeding your horse a **Golden Apple** \u2192 **+2 Bond**<\/p>\n
This system rewards long-term care and makes your horse progressively stronger over time.<\/p>\n
## Travel & Movement Improvements<\/p>\n
### Water Traversal<\/p>\n
Horses:<\/p>\n
* No longer sink in water
\n* Move significantly faster across water<\/p>\n
### Auto-Ride System<\/p>\n
Press **W twice quickly** to activate **Auto-Ride Mode**.<\/p>\n
While active:<\/p>\n
* The horse automatically moves forward
\n* Movement is controlled using your mouse
\n* No constant WASD input required<\/p>\n
To disable Auto-Ride:<\/p>\n
* Press any **W\/A\/S\/D** key to return to manual control<\/p>\n
### Forest Traversal Fix<\/p>\n
Vanilla horses often get stuck in forests due to dense leaf collision.<\/p>\n
This mod solves that by making:<\/p>\n
* Leaves **passable while mounted**
\n* Dense forests far easier to travel through<\/p>\n
This significantly reduces traversal frustration.<\/p>\n
## Multiplayer Riding<\/p>\n
Horses can now be ridden by **two players at once**.<\/p>\n
This allows:<\/p>\n
* Cooperative exploration
\n* Faster multiplayer travel
\n* Easier transportation of teammates<\/p>\n
# New Equipment & Items<\/p>\n
The mod introduces several new horse-focused items.<\/p>\n
## Upgraded Saddle<\/p>\n
The **Upgraded Saddle** unlocks:<\/p>\n
* **5 special equipment slots**
\n* Additional customization options<\/p>\n
It can also be combined with a chest to give horses:<\/p>\n
* Their own storage inventory<\/p>\n
## Hitch Post<\/p>\n
The **Hitch Post** allows players to tether their horse to a fixed point.<\/p>\n
Features:<\/p>\n
* Prevents movement entirely
\n* Only works on horses owned by the player
\n* Cannot be used on random wild horses<\/p>\n
## Medkit<\/p>\n
The **Horse Medkit** acts as an emergency survival tool.<\/p>\n
When horse health drops below **50%**:<\/p>\n
It automatically activates and grants:<\/p>\n
* Regeneration
\n* Instant Health
\n* Resistance<\/p>\n
This gives your horse an additional survival buffer during dangerous situations.<\/p>\n
## Horse Hooves<\/p>\n
Craftable horse hooves provide environmental stability.<\/p>\n
Effects:<\/p>\n
* Prevent sinking in powdered snow
\n* Improve movement stability
\n* Reduce fall damage<\/p>\n
## Stabilizer<\/p>\n
The **Stabilizer** is advanced horse equipment designed for dangerous terrain.<\/p>\n
When the horse experiences a major fall:<\/p>\n
* Jets of steam activate
\n* Mechanical wings deploy
\n* Fall damage is reduced or completely negated<\/p>\n
This allows for much smoother cliff traversal and protects horses from accidental deaths.<\/p>\n
— <\/p>\n
# Additional Features for Version 26.1.2<\/p>\n
## (coming soon for other versions)<\/p>\n
– Increased horse step height by 10%, allowing smoother traversal over paths and full blocks without getting stuck.
\n– Reduced mounted block break speed penalty by 80%.
\n– Mounting a horse no longer forces the player’s view direction to change \u2014 the horse rotates instead.
\n– Added independent camera movement while the horse is stationary, allowing up to 90\u00b0 of free look before the horse follows the rotation.
\n– Improved downward visibility by making the horse nearly disappear when looking down.
\n– Improved rider visibility by lowering the horse head position and rotating it forward while mounted.
\n– Using an upgraded saddle on a horse in Creative Mode now instantly tames the horse.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Instead of replacing horses with overpowered mechanics, Better Horses enhances what already makes them fun while removing the frustrations that stop players from using them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Better Horses reworks horses into long-term companions through better traversal, progression, and utility systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":83586,"template":"","meta":{"_minecraft_slug":"icys-better-horses","_minecraft_project_id":"XlUm5I57","_minecraft_author":"Icywhenhot","_minecraft_license":"MIT","_minecraft_downloads":214,"_minecraft_follows":6,"_minecraft_client_side":"required","_minecraft_server_side":"required","_minecraft_storage_type":"zip","_minecraft_archive_name":"icys-better-horses.zip","_minecraft_size_bytes":6101026,"_minecraft_version_count":5,"_minecraft_updated_at":"2026-05-16T13:54:13.157887Z","_minecraft_date_created":"2026-05-03T03:39:05.503975Z","_minecraft_date_modified":"2026-05-12T19:52:32.944890Z","_minecraft_project_url":"https:\/\/modrinth.com\/mod\/icys-better-horses","_minecraft_icon_attachment_id":83586,"_minecraft_imported_at":"2026-06-04T18:51:40+00:00","_minecraft_import_hash":"6a98075fabf5f069bca4d23331542cd2","_minecraft_versions":"","_minecraft_links":"","_minecraft_gallery":"","_minecraft_api_metadata":""},"mod_category":[87,88,97,137,123,869,92],"mod_loader":[99],"minecraft_version":[62,37,40,41,163],"class_list":["post-83585","mod","type-mod","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","mod_category-adventure","mod_category-equipment","mod_category-fabric","mod_category-mobs","mod_category-technology","mod_category-transportation","mod_category-utility","mod_loader-fabric","minecraft_version-1-21","minecraft_version-1-21-1","minecraft_version-1-21-10","minecraft_version-1-21-11","minecraft_version-26-1-2"],"yoast_head":"\n