Minecraft: Here’s How To Cross Water With a Horse

Minecraft is a very flexible game regarding what you can do in it. Sometimes you can even get away with things that shouldn’t be possible because of in-game bugs that come and go with every game update. We also know that Minecraft can often defy logic and physics, but not when it comes to horses, the fastest mode of transportation on land. As is the case with our world, Minecraft worlds are filled with bodies of water, so how would one easily cross water with a horse in Minecraft?

Crossing water while riding the horse

Although crossing water with a horse is possible while you’re mounted on it, doing it often shouldn’t become a standard practice for two reasons. One is that you might lose the horse if you don’t get it out of the water in time which is especially troublesome if the horse you own is your prized possession and you’ve grown emotionally attached to it.

Another reason is that even when you succeed in crossing water with a horse, getting to the other side is so slow that you’re better off just building that simple bridge and crossing once the bridge is complete. Truth be told, riding horses in water is a mystery, but some things we know for certain.

Horses and water mechanics

Most mobs in Minecraft naturally float in water when they get in contact with it, but horses are slightly different. Although they float, it only happens if the player is not riding the horse. If the horse is ridden, the horse will sink to the bottom and won’t be able to get out.

You can cross water with a horse if the water is up to two blocks deep. Any deeper than that, and you’ll be automatically dismounted. Although this is an official game mechanic, I’ve tested this multiple times, and it didn’t automatically dismount.

Another official mechanic is that the horse will float to the surface when you’re dismounted, which also isn’t true in all cases. Sometimes, the horse will disappear; other times, it will begin suffocating, and you’ll have very little time to save it. Sometimes, the mechanic will work as intended. When it does and doesn’t, how do you get the horse out of the water?

Getting the horse out of the water

Whatever happens, when your horse ends up in the water and you need to take it out, you better have a lead on hand to attach to the horse to pull it out of the water. Go to the horse and press use on it while holding the lead in your hand. Then, start walking away, and your horse should follow after a while.

This might be a slow and painful process, depending on how far out in the water the horse is. Nonetheless, it should help you save your precious horse. If you don’t have a lead on hand, this might be a problem since getting a lead requires you to have hard-to-get material like a slimeball.

Crossing using a lead

While we’re on the subject of leads, you could try and get the horse across using a lead. Again, this depends on how big of a body of water you want to cross, and it might not be the smartest or the fastest idea in some cases, but it’s worth a try. I recommend getting a horse you don’t mind losing and testing out different crossing techniques.

Crossing while the horse is in a boat

Although most animals can get into a boat since boats have two seats that can be occupied, horses take up both of those seats, so you can’t ride the boat while the horse is in the water. I’ve already mentioned that Minecraft is a game with many in-game bugs, so there are ways to ride the boat, even with a horse inside.

You’ll need to mount the horse and jump into an already-placed boat to get the horse inside the boat. Preferably, the boat will already be in the water. If not, you can use a lead to get the boat into the water when the horse is already inside the boat. Then, you can keep using the lead for swimming while pulling the horse and the boat behind you.

Boats are the fastest mode of transport in water, so if you want it done fast and with little to no risk of getting hurt by mobs when night falls, you should try getting into the boat. To do so, dive underwater, aim at the boat, and press use on it which might result in you getting into the boat instead of mounting the horse.

The fastest method

Although it has a few additional steps, the fastest way to get your horse across a body of water in Minecraft is to try and get it into a boat and then drive it. The second fastest method would be using the boat and pulling it with a lead, and the slowest method that will fail you most of the time is trying to ride the horse across the water.

Remember, the fastest method of transport depends on how deep and how big the body of water is, so you should adapt to the conditions and choose how you’re going to cross by assessing the situation.

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