Taming a horse in Minecraft is one thing, but trusting yourself not to kill it while you're out adventuring is another. As much as I love the convenience of not having to carry myself across the overworld by foot, the stress I feel each time I misjudge a jump and end up falling into a hole or ravine, or being stuck outside as it starts getting dark, definitely makes me question why I wanted a horse in the first place. For clumsy people like me, horse armor is a must for keeping my mount safe. But no amount of armor could convince me to take my noble steed to the Nether.
Minecraft's next game drop, Mounts of Mayhem, is going to tempt me to try riding my horse into the underworld with new Netherite Horse armor. Similar to the Netherite tool set and the human Netherite armor, it'll beat diamond as the strongest material. Lava is my mortal nemesis, which is a feeling reciprocated by many, but this could be the convincing I need to feel a little more confident in my ability to take my horse to battle with hordes of zombies and make it home in one piece. I can't guarantee it though.
Netherite armor has fire resistance built in, and since horses will also (finally) be able to swim when ridden as part of the Mounts of Mayhem update, does this mean we can swim through lava? I doubt it, but it's still a nice thought. Just being able to walk through fire and lava without taking a crazy amount of damage will be a nice plus, and hopefully reduce the amount of responsibility I feel each time I tame a new mount.
The armor has been available to test for a little over a week now, and one player pointed out an interesting glitch on Reddit regarding its fire resistance. When testing the features and throwing the horse armor directly into a lava pool, it disappears and the player cannot pick it back up if they jump in, unlike the Netherite tools and human armor. A bug report has already been created for that issue, so I don't doubt it will get fixed prior to the full update release.
Knowing my luck, my horse will still burst into flames should I ever feel brave enough to take it with me on my next trip to the Nether. I can at least say I tried to venture out of my comfort zone, though. What a waste of resources.
