Install Horse Expert on Minecraft
Install Horse Expert 26.3.1 on a NeoForge or Fabric 26.3 server with Puzzles Lib, craft the monocle and set each player's display options.
Horse Expert shows the real statistics of a horse, and extra detail for llamas, so you can pick the best mount instead of guessing. You craft a monocle, wear it, then look at a tamed horse to see its stats. It must be installed on the server and in each player's game, and it runs on NeoForge and Fabric.
Checked against Horse Expert 26.3.1 on NeoForge with Minecraft 26.3, October 2026.
What it needs
Horse Expert is a mod, not a plugin, so Paper and Purpur servers can't load it. The 26.3.1 builds need these libraries:
- NeoForge: Puzzles Lib.
- Fabric: Puzzles Lib, Fabric API and Forge Config API Port.
Trinkets Updated is an optional extra on both loaders. Minecraft 26.x runs on Java 25, which the panel selects for you, and Forge builds stop at Minecraft 1.20.4. To change loader or version, open JAR Manager under More, choose the loader under Server software and the version under Minecraft version, then press Apply change. The loader and version guide has the steps. Leave Take a backup first ticked in the confirmation window.
Install it
- Open Mods under Content and keep the Modrinth chip selected in the source chip row at the top of the tab. The Game version filter starts on your server's version.
- Search for
Horse Expertand press Install. - When the "Needs" window lists the libraries above, press Install all. Leave the optional add-on unticked unless you want it.
- Restart from the Console tab.
In the Installed view, Horse Expert and its libraries should show without a Failed to load badge.
Players need it too
Modrinth lists the mod as required on both the client and the server. Each player installs the same mod and libraries for their loader and Minecraft version. Join a modded server from your launcher covers the player side, and Fix the mismatched mod channel list error explains the refusal when versions differ.
Using it in the game
Craft a monocle from four gold nuggets and one glass pane, with the glass pane in the centre of the grid and a nugget above, below and on each side. Wear it in the helmet slot, then look at a horse. The project page says the horse has to be tamed, though that is configurable. Llamas show extra information too.
Settings
Horse Expert has no server settings. Its display options are per player, in horseexpert-client.toml in the config folder of the player's own game. They include:
must_be_tamed: on by default.requires_sneaking: show stats only while sneaking. Off by default.all_llama_attributes: show speed and jump for llamas. Off by default.low_value_percentageandhigh_value_percentage: the cut-offs for the red and green highlights, 0.25 and 0.75 by default.
Each player edits their own copy, so changing the server's config folder does nothing for them.
Updating
Press Check for updates in the Installed view. It only looks: if newer builds exist, the button becomes Update all (N), which asks you to confirm, and a row with a newer build gets its own Update button. Use either one, then restart the server.
Common problems
- No statistics appear: wear the monocle, and make sure the horse is tamed unless a player has turned
must_be_tamedoff. - The server stops at startup: read the last lines in the Console. A missing library is the usual cause. Fix mod and plugin errors on Minecraft covers the log.
- Players can't join: they are missing the mod or one of its libraries.
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