Hytale’s world, Orbis, is built around exploration, travel, and building a life alongside its creatures. Horses are central to that fantasy, but in early access the game handles them differently than many players expect. You can ride them and you can manage other animals around your base, but full taming and permanent mounts are not in place yet.
Can you tame a Horse in Hytale early access?
Right now at the start of early access, traditional taming is not implemented. You cannot feed a horse carrots, apples, or any other item to turn it into a permanent, obedient mount. There is also no system yet to register a specific horse as “yours,” name it, or have it reliably follow you around the world.
Instead, horses behave as wild mobs that you can temporarily ride. They can be skittish when you approach and may bolt or even lash out with a kick if you get too close too fast. That makes them helpful for fast travel, but not yet true companions.
Developers have confirmed that a full taming mechanic and proper mounts are planned for a later stage of development. The goal is for horses, camels, and Tetrabird to become rideable mounts through that future system, but there is no in-game taming workflow for horses at the moment.
Where to find horses in Hytale
Horses appear in specific biomes tied to the first two zones of Orbis. They are most commonly found in the grassy landscapes of Emerald Grove in Zone 1 and in the savannah regions of the Howling Sands in Zone 2. In these areas, horses often wander in small herds, though you can occasionally encounter a lone animal.
When scouting for a mount, move carefully as you close the distance. Sprinting directly at a horse or approaching from an odd angle can cause it to flee or react aggressively, which makes mounting much harder.
How riding horses works right now
Once you’ve found a horse, you can use it as a temporary mount even without a taming feature. The basic interaction is simple: get close enough without startling the animal, then use the standard interact key to mount. On keyboard, that default key is F.
After you are on the horse, movement uses the usual controls. On PC, you steer and move with W, A, S, D, just as you would on foot. The horse provides faster travel than running, which is especially useful when crossing the large distances between points of interest or moving through more dangerous zones where you may want to avoid long fights.
Because horses are not yet truly tamed, they behave as wild mounts. You ride them for as long as they tolerate a rider, and they can eventually buck you off or otherwise stop cooperating. There is no current way to lock in a permanent, guaranteed bond that persists across sessions or locations.
Using the Feed Bag to control animals near your base
While you cannot tame a horse in the traditional sense, Hytale does provide tools to influence animal behavior. The key item here is the Feed Bag, which functions as a lure. Placed in the world, it attracts nearby animals and draws them toward the area you choose, such as a fenced pasture or your base courtyard.
For horses specifically, the Feed Bag lets you guide them close to home without chasing them across the biome. This does not change their underlying wild status, but it makes it far easier to keep a few within reach when you need a quick ride.
How to craft a Feed Bag
Crafting a Feed Bag requires progressing through Hytale’s basic crafting stations into the farming tier. The process starts from the Pocket Crafting menu and builds up to the Farmer’s Workbench, which then unlocks the Feed Bag recipe.
Step 1: Open the Pocket Crafting menu and craft a basic Workbench. This recipe uses 4x any Tree Trunk and 3x any Stone, which are both available very early in a new world.
Step 2: Place the Workbench in the world from your inventory or hotbar, then interact with it to open its menu.
Step 3: In the Workbench interface, switch to the Crafting tab and create a Farmer’s Workbench. This structure requires 6x any Tree Trunk and 20x Plant Fiber.
Step 4: Deploy the Farmer’s Workbench in a safe, open area of your base and interact with it to access the farming recipes.
Step 5: In the Farming tab of the Farmer’s Workbench, craft a Feed Bag. The recipe uses 10x Wheat, 5x any vegetable, 5x any fruit, and 10x Essence of Life.
Step 6: Move the Feed Bag into a Quick Slot so you can deploy it easily while exploring or managing your base.
How to use the Feed Bag to lure horses
Once you have a Feed Bag, you can use it to bring horses closer without repeated chasing attempts. The Feed Bag acts as a stationary point of interest that nearby animals move toward over time.
Step 1: Travel to an area where horses naturally spawn, such as Emerald Grove or the savannahs of the Howling Sands. Make sure your Feed Bag is in a Quick Slot before you set out.
Step 2: When you find a herd, return toward your base or a prepared enclosure and deploy the Feed Bag on the ground there. Place it in a spot that animals can path to without getting stuck on fences or terrain.
Step 3: Keep a short distance from the Feed Bag and wait. Nearby horses will gradually be drawn toward it, reducing the need to push them manually or risk startling them.
Step 4: As horses arrive, you can approach calmly and press F to mount. Use them for travel, then dismount back near your base so a few horses tend to stay in the area influenced by the Feed Bag.
Tip: Combining the Feed Bag with simple fencing or terrain features makes it easier to keep horses from wandering too far. Even though they are not tamed, they are less likely to drift out of reach when they have a reliable food lure nearby.
Other early access animal systems that matter for horses
Hytale’s current animal systems go beyond horses and lay groundwork for future taming. Small animals, for example, can be captured using a Capture Crate and transported to your base. You can also keep domestic animals such as chickens, pigs, cows, and other livestock on your farm for resources like meat, hides, feathers, eggs, and more.
At this stage, there is no dedicated pet system and you cannot yet turn animals into true pets or interact with them in ways like petting. Those features, like full mounts, are part of the broader animal taming plans and are intended to come later in development.
Even in this limited form, the combination of Feed Bags, capture tools, and wild mounts already makes animals an important part of survival and progression. Horses are the most visible example because they change how you move through Orbis, but the same systems shape how you build farms and gather materials across the game.
For now, the practical approach is simple: treat horses as fast, temporary rides and use Feed Bags and enclosures to keep a few within reach of your base. Traditional taming will eventually change that relationship, but in early access the focus is on luring, capturing, and managing wild animals rather than owning them permanently.
