Talk:Skeleton Horse

This article is about a skeleton horse, but the bulk of it deals with something called a "skeleton trap" and a "skeleton trap horse" without really describing what they are. What's the difference between a trap horse and a normal horse? To find skeleton horses, do I need only to stand near a regular horse during a thunderstorm? ~ Amatulic (talk) 02:38, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

Skeleton horses spawn only from skeleton traps so that's why there's a heavy focus in the article. – Nixinova 👁 Image
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02:53, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

Well, that's the point of my question. A "skeleton trap" is not explained. What is it? ~ Amatulic (talk) 07:39, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

A skeleton trap has a 1/200(?) chance to spawn in a thunder storm instead of lightning, it looks like a skeleton horse, but when approached it’ll strike (fake) lightning at its location, and replace the skeleton horse with 4 skeleton horses with skeletons with enchanted iron helmets, hostile to the player, at its location. That’s a skeleton trap. (a skeleton trap horse is as such the horse(s) from the trap.)

You could also just read the section named “skeleton trap”... FVbico (talk) 08:08, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

I had read it. That's why I asked. The section did absolutely nothing to explain what it is, what is a trap horse, how it works, how it spawns, and so forth. It was written very badly for someone new to the subject until Nixinova clarified it today.

So last night while I was playing, I was working on dismantling a dark oak tree when a thunderstorm came along in the evening. I went to sleep in my bed in my home base village. When I awoke the next sunny morning and went out to my animal corral, there were three skeletons wearing enchanted armor sitting around idly on skeleton horses, on the outside of the fence I installed around the village. I don't believe I did anything to cause them to appear, but there they were. I shot them, at close range, and they didn't really put up a fight. I think one of them shot at me. My flaming arrows likely prevented any of the enchanted armor from dropping; unfortunately I got none of that. One horse was destroyed, somehow. Another fell into a ravine (I have a knockback bow, and hitting the skeleton also knocked back the horse). I managed to save the third horse, and I rode it into my corral.

It's cool that I now have a skeleton horse, but I still don't really have any idea how it happened. All I know was, there was a thunderstorm, and the next morning I saw these guys. It's possible that I happened to get within 10 blocks of a trap horse while heading off to bed, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't near that part of the fence where I found the skeleton riders, I was on the opposite side of my village. ~ Amatulic (talk) 23:30, 18 February 2019 (UTC)

80% of this article just blathers on about general horse info, which is already included in the main horse article in far more depth and clarity. There's two options here imo. Either:

1. This article should be stripped of all redundant info and only include the info on skeleton traps, as well as explain what the difference between skeleton horses and normal horses are, or
2. A section on skeleton horses should be added to the main horse page, moving all relevant info over, with "Skeleton Horse" redirecting to the main horse page.

I think the second option is the better one personally. I'm not entirely sure whether having a separate page on the whole "skeleton trap" mechanic, or including that in the main horse page as well, would be better though. ~ PunchFox39997 (talk) 08:34, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

This page was rather recently split from the horse page with basically everyone agreeing to that; we're not going to do the second one. You yourself can help clean up this page to only be about skeleton horses. FVbico (talk) 08:58, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

I have a draft ready, but can't submit it due to new user restrictions. I made a relevant post on the admin notice board. PunchFox39997 (talk) 10:52, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

Followed suggestion to make incremental changes, and the page now matches my draft. I'm not sure I'd call it completely polished in terms of formatting and style, but it's much cleaner and easier to get pertinent information compared to before, and can be more easily edited to match style standards from here. PunchFox39997 (talk) 01:58, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

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 Strong oppose I am not sure what has happened to this article but it was fine before. The page needs the normal horse information because it still applies to the skeleton horses. – Nixinova 👁 Image
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02:08, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

I don't agree with only having the differences between the two different mobs. Readers will have to jump between the articles which defeats the purpose of the split. I've reverted the changes for now and moved the proposal to [[Skeleton Horse/editcopy]] until a consensus is reached. – Nixinova 👁 Image
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02:13, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

having the same information on two articles is redundant, and also makes it impossible to maintain effectively. I noticed many parts of the article where "mirrored" information was written poorly, or lacking in detail, compared to the main horse article. This is why I said it makes sense to include Skeleton Horses on the main horse article as a variant, as is the case with some other pages (EG, trees), and then all the information can be present in one place. However, apparently this was already decided against, so I dunno. PunchFox39997 (talk) 07:24, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

As an extra note on that, when I go to the Skeleton Horse page, it's because I want specifically to see information on that type of horse. I imagine that's the case for most other people. Having 80% of the content be related to general horses makes it very irritating and time consuming to find that particular information amidst everything else. Whatever the "solution" is, I really don't think it's having two separate pages, with the "variant page" having a bunch of redundant information from the main page which will have to be maintained in tandem (very messy to have to do that) and will get in the way of finding the specific information that anyone who's accessing this page will want. PunchFox39997 (talk) 07:27, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

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 Strong oppose I don't think removing atleast 3000+ bytes of the page would help. To be honest in every way, one sentenced sections looks more redundant. Headings like "Skeleton horses compared to normal horses" is just too long. Sorry if this sounds rude enough, however, you didn't waited for an administrator to approve your want of changes to this article, so I believe it won't be affected, but you can still actually improve this page and not removing literally ALL horse information found in the article and just slap opposed copyedit.

Again, I confess for what I wrote as it seems rude enough, you can delete it if you find it harming to the user - Bonbonplays16 (talk) 20:45, 26 May 2019 (GMT)

In Bedrock edition, Android, 1.12.1, tame skeleton horses can be pulled using a lead. Metaed (talk) 05:37, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

I can also reproduce this in Beta 1.13.0.18 on Windows 10 (but not in Java); updated the sentence. –Sonicwave ^talk 05:49, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

Since skeleton horses apparently cannot breed, is it even possible for the player to encounter a baby skeleton horse in the game? (besides using commands ofc) 24.235.133.179 04:39, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

I don't know of any other mechanism for a skeleton horse to appear naturally in the game other than by triggering a skeleton horse trap, and I have never heard of a skeleton horse trap to create babies (a skeleton must be riding it after all, so the horse needs to be adult). So I believe the only way to get a baby is via commands. Amatulic (talk) 05:22, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

The only time I've seen a skeleton trap horse before setting it off (above I encountered a trap that had already been set off so I never saw the original horse), I recall the horse appeared as a normal horse, but I didn't recognize it or see it around prior to the thunderstorm. This was in Bedrock edition, maybe a year ago. Was I mistaken? Do they always appear as a skeleton horse before the trap is triggered? Amatulic (talk) 17:12, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Must been a bug.--Olivia Capucine Elisabet (talk) 17:16, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Can they really? I tried making one ride a boat but couldn’t do it. https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/692917473984512000/866274399535890442/unknown.png

Boats can only catch entities that are less wide than themselves. Mobs like horses, hoglins and large slimes are definitely unable to enter a boat spontaneously. They can enter minecarts though. Generally, minecarts can carry a wider variety of mobs than boat. Even ghasts, one of the largest mobs in the game, can be "inside" a minecart. Windwend (talk) 16:00, 18 July 2021 (UTC)

I tried for a while to get my Skeleton Horse inside a minecart but it didn’t work… I tried riding it then going into it, tried pushing it into it, what am I doing wrong?

Maybe throw a skeleton horse egg into a minecart?

Are you trying this in Java or Bedrock? I just tried it in Bedrock, and I was able to put a skeleton horse into a boat and a minecart by spawning a skeleton horse egg next to the boat or minecart. Amatulic (talk) 20:20, 18 July 2021 (UTC)

I’m trying in Java, and does it require an egg? Seems kinda weird.

Does the sleleton horse prevent a player from sleeping if it's not in a hostile state?

They aren't hostile. Only their riders are hostile. So, no, a riderless skeleton horse doesn't prevent you from sleeping.

If you're referring to an un-triggered trap horse, they trigger when you are within 10 blocks. Sleep is prevented when a monster is within 8 blocks. So if you're out of the trigger range, you won't be prevented from sleeping. If you're near enough to trigger it, the trap horse transforms into skeleton horses with hostile riders, and those would prevent you from sleeping if they happen to spread out so one of them is within 8 blocks of you. Amatulic (talk) 15:08, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

I believe it is worth noting in the trivia area that the for horseman need hardly reminding of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse from the New Testament from the bible and appear in numerous games, shows and movies. it is pretty obvious that the skeleton horse trap is inspired by this story. Supposedly, when they walk the earth, they are one of the first signs of the Apocalypse. However, it is probably unnecessary/problematic to some, to mention their religious origins in the wiki. PatBunnyTabata (talk) 23:44, 26 November 2023 (UTC) PatBunnyTabata (talk) 23:45, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

I have reverted your edit. It isn't "obvious", it's pure speculation, and without an official source confirming the inspiration, it shouldn't be there. See MCW:TRIVIA for further guidance. ~Anachronist (talk) 02:23, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

Yes, but something of "religious" origins will never be officially disclosed, therefor, I can't ever add it to triva, yet this trap is not without reminding of the many medias that features The Four Horsemen ... PatBunnyTabata (talk) 15:52, 28 November 2023 (UTC)

That is described in the article, in the begin of the Spawning section, and the Behavior section, and everything below that applies to both the skeleton horse before triggering and after triggering. There's also an image in the gallery showing a skeleton horse before triggering. MinecraftBedrockPlayer7 (talk) (contribs) 👁 Image
20:53, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

I wanted to discuss the skeleton/zombie horseman infoboxes. While having the horsemen added to the main infoboxes isn’t a bad idea by any means, I personally think having a separate infobox for the horseman is a better decision.

My reasoning is that since all the other jockeys have proper infoboxes, the horsemen should as well. The “horseman” redirects go directly to the mount Spawning sections, and I think having a proper infobox for the horseman there will be more informative and also look nicer.

This also applies to the zombie nautilus jockey as it seems (presumably) to have the same mechanic of the mount only spawning as a jockey like the horsemen do. 👁 Image
WillyBlue (talk | contribs) 02:08, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Personally, I think the two infoboxes, one below the other, are kind of ugly and make the page look a bit cluttered. I believe the image of the main infobox and with a "Hostile" added to its behavior is enough to list the horseman, this extends to the zombie horseman and potentially the zombie nautilius one, if the spawn of the zombie variant is always as a jockey. Rogerio980Pizzaa (talk) 21:14, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

That’s a valid point, it does look a bit more cluttered when viewing on desktop. 👁 Image
WillyBlue (talk | contribs) 04:12, 8 October 2025 (UTC)

Whats your current opinion then? Rogerio980Pizzaa (talk) 11:38, 10 October 2025 (UTC)

I prefer there being two separate infoboxes, as the positives outweigh the negatives. 👁 Image
WillyBlue (talk | contribs) 22:27, 10 October 2025 (UTC)

I've been trying to think of solutions: perhaps we can add a "Skeleton horseman" subsection to the Spawning section? With this it creates more space between the infoboxes, and gives the horseman a proper "section" for it. What do you think? 👁 Image
WillyBlue (talk | contribs) 18:03, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

But isn't the whole spawning section already about the skeleton horseman? As skeleton horses only spawn as the riders. Rogerio980Pizzaa (talk) 18:08, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

The first portion of it is about the skeleton trap horse, then it talks about the horsemen. 👁 Image
WillyBlue (talk | contribs) 18:11, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

I see, in the skeleton horse page it doesn't look bad, but I can't say the same for the zombie horse, they are too close to one another on desktop. Im more proned to listing it on the behavior section really. Rogerio980Pizzaa (talk) 21:19, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

Or my first suggestion of just adding the jockey image to the main infobox. Rogerio980Pizzaa (talk) 21:25, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

Agreed, I've moved it back to the behavior section. 👁 Image
WillyBlue (talk | contribs) 21:25, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

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 Support having another infobox for the horseman. --MinecraftExp123^{(talk|contribs)} 23:40, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

It is the only jockey in the entire game that does not have a seperate page. The main reason I've heard that this page isn't already split is because the skeleton horse only initally spawns as a skeleton horseman, but this isn't true. The horse initially spawns as a normal and only becomes a skeleton horseman when the player gets close to it. Plus, if the player is in peaceful difficulty, it will spawn additional horse but won't become a horseman. If anything, it would make more sence for the zombie nautilus and zombie nautilus jockey to be the same page but it's not. Sure, it won't be the longest page ever but that just means it will be easier to split. CrockCraftMC (talk) 16:35, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

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 Strong oppose. Skeleton horseman is just a spawning mechanic, and it's described perfectly fine on the page with no weird structuring or other reasons that it might be better to split. I don't see any benefit in splitting, it makes single features more scattered throughout the wiki. MinecraftBedrockPlayer7 (talk) (contribs) 👁 Image
16:56, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

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 Strong oppose: Same reasons as above. Rogerio980Pizzaa (talk) 17:30, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

If this doesn't split than zombie nautilus and zombie nautilus jockey should be merged. CrockCraftMC (talk) 17:33, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

I agree. Rogerio980Pizzaa (talk) 17:35, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

All right no split. CrockCraftMC (talk) 14:03, 12 October 2025 (UTC)

It already has a picture in a different section. 👁 Image
NmF (talk) 17:49, 25 December 2025 (UTC)

I was going to suggest a split but I see that that discussion already took place in October, so I'll hold off on that until something changes about the horseman. However, the Wither Skeleton horseman is mentioned in the renders section but not the history section, according to Discontinued Features wiki on wiki.gg, this was available from their addition until 1.10.2, but I haven't manually confirmed this yet. 👁 Image
FireDragons52 08:16, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J0HIKhamBw Lisabit (talk) 14:00, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

An unofficial YouTube video can't really be used as confirmation. ‑‑MinecraftExp123^{(talk|contribs)} 23:04, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

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