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There are plenty of ways to enjoy your horses inThe Sims 4: Horse Ranchexpansion pack, and one of them is by training them to compete. Competitions happen every day at the Equestrian Center in Chestnut Ridge, and your Sim might have their eyes on the prize.
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Though it’s only got a single level aspiration, the Championship Rider aspiration that comes with The Sims 4: Horse Ranch still takes quite a lot of work. With over a dozen contests ahead and high skill requirements for both you and your horse, Championship Riders have their work cut out for them.
What Do You Need For The Championship Rider Aspiration?
The first and hopefully most obvious requirement before your Sim can become a Championship Rider is thatyour need toown a horse.
Thebreed of your horsedoesn’t impact much at the competitive level, butcompeting horses need to be adults that aren’t currently pregnant.
Foals, elder horses, and pregnant maresareineligibleto compete, and will not be presented as options when you enter competitions.
And with having a horse comesneeding everything tocare for the horse. This includes things likefeeders, toys, beds, and training gear, with each horse requiring a bed and filled horse feeder of its own.
Outside that, you’ll simply need consistentaccess to Chestnut Ridge, which is where you’ll beentering horse competitions.
Useful Traits And Skills
Traits For Your Sim
The most critical skill to build for the Championship Rider aspiration in The Sims 4: Horse Ranch is, of course, theHorse Riding Skill.
In fact, youneedto buildthe Horse Riding skill, as you’ll need toreach Level Ten of the Horse Riding skillas part of the aspiration.
Naturally, Sims with theHorse Lover traitare prime candidates for the Championship Rider aspiration. They tend tobuild relationships quicker with horses, and having a horse thatloves and trusts youis pivotal to building your skills.
However,you gain skills faster while Confident when horseback riding, so having Sims with traits likeSelf-Assuredcan be a huge help when riding is tough.
Your Sims may experienceTense moodlets when bucked off a horse, or fromriding a horse with a low Horse Riding skill level.
This stops atLevel Sevenof the Horse Riding skill, whenyour Sim will no longer be bucked off of horses.
And with life on a ranch all but a given if horses are your focus, you may find that having theRancher traitis helpful, too. Sims with this traitlike taking care of horses, which you’ll be doing a lot of as you build your bond and train your horse.
A few other traits that are less directly tied to raising horses but can still help your Sim to train for the Championship Aspiration are:
Lots that have theConvivial lot traitoccasionally give a natural Confident moodlet.
Your Horse’s Traits Are Important, Too
It should be noted before you get attached to a horse for competitive purposes, though, thatcertain horse traits make horses more difficult to train, with gentler traits much easier in comparison.
These are most often found in rescued horses, but traits likeAggressive, Defiant, and Fearful make horses harder to train.
And with your horse’s abilities and skill levels so closely tied to your success as a Championship Rider,gentler horses are better for tackling the aspiration- there’s a place in the world for difficult horses, but don’t make things tougher on yourself if you don’t have to.
Certain traits in horses make it so theylearn some skills quicker than others, meaning it’s well worth it tocheck your horse’s traits before dedicating yourself to training themfor the aspiration.
Helpful Tips For Becoming A Championship Rider
Start Your Family In Chestnut Ridge
With everything in The Sims 4: Horse Ranch’s new world,Chestnut Ridge, centered primarily around all things equestrian, it’s helpful tohave your family’s lot in Chestnut Ridgefor a number of reasons.
First,natural prairie grassgrows on pretty much every lot in the world, which can be used either assnacks for your horseswhen away from their feeders, or you can evencut down prairie grass to get hayfor the feeders yourself.
Additionally, with the world around your current lot relatively open, you canuse the horse training equipment around Chestnut Ridge to train. This allows you tosave space on your home lot, with horse training equipment taking up quite a lot of space.
Homes in both theNew Appaloosa and Rider’s Glen neighborhoodswill have direct access to horse training equipment without leaving the home lot.
Certain homes in these neighborhoods also have training equipment on the property already, if youbuy homes in these neighborhoods already furnished.
Make Sure Your Horse’s Needs Are Full Before Competing
Horses get moodletsjust like normal Sims, and these moodlets can and often doimpact their performance while training or competing.
For example, if a horse ishungry or tired, it will perform less consistently. If it’sgotten scared, it tends to be less obedient until calming down.
Thankfully,the area aroundthe Equestrian Center has everything you need to care for a horse, so spend some time getting your horse into a good mood before show time.
Earn A Living On Your Ranch To Maximize Training Time
Whether it’s from competition prizes at the varying levels, selling the Manure your horses are leaving around, or even amaking Nectar, it’s pretty easy toearn a living on your ranch.
Naturally, doing so allows you tomaximize the time you spend riding and caring for horses, which directly impacts how quickly you’ll complete the Championship Rider aspiration.
The biggest simoleonscome at thehigher levels of horse competitions, but you cansell Manurefor a few quick bucks, too - there’s always plenty of it around the farm.
Enter Competitions As Often As Possible
Another benefit of making ranching your full-time job is that there won’t be much to stop you fromentering a competition each day.
Plenty of the Championship Rider aspiration, understandably, is connected towinning horse competitions at varying levels.
Even before your horse is notedly good with their skills,Beginner-level contests still count toward the total number of contests you’ll need to enter for Championship Rider aspiration, and though the prizes are smaller, you’ll win Simoleons all the same.
Even Those Most Qualified Don’t Win Every Competition
Though the game does tell you the suggested levels for both you and your horse’s skills before you enter a contest,you might not win even if you meet the minimum requirements.
From newcomers to champions,winning and/or placing seems to be somewhat random. Naturally, youstand a better chance with higher skillsin each of the categories a competition checks, but it’s still left to chance.
Don’t let lower placings or losses deter you, though! As they say, get right back up on the horse andkeep tryinguntil you win.
You Can Save Scum To Make Sure You Win Every Day
If you’ve got your eyesfirmlyon first prize, though, there’s a way tocheese getting gold every time you compete.
If youmanually save the game immediately before entering a competition, you can choose toreload if you don’t take first.
Since you can only compete with a horse once per day, this allows you toreset to before the competition happened and try againuntil you get first place.
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Championship Rider Aspiration Goals
The Championship Rider aspiration in The Sims 4: Horse Ranch is aone-level aspiration, unlike most other aspirations in the game.
That said,each goal takes quite a while to reach, meaning you’ve still got your work cut out for you.
Achieve Level 10 Horse Riding Skill
Before you can become a champion, you’ll need to be able to ride your horse without fear, and that means you’ll need topractice horse riding oftento build the skill.
All you really need to do isride your horse as often as you can, to ensure your Sim becomes more comfortable on horseback over time.
Compete In 15 Horse Competitions
There arefive different competitionsin which you can enter your horse, witheach competition checking a different set of skills.
We’ve got a guide that breaks down how to enter and win horse competitions more in-depths, but you’ll need to get used to competing for the aspiration, because you need toenter competitions 15 separate times.
It doesn’t matter which competition you enter, just that youenter 15 timesin your Sim’s life. Withfour primary competitions, each with four levels of competitionto them, you’ll be able to diversify your competition types if you so choose.
Sinceeach horse can only compete once per day, this goes faster if youhave multiple horses.
Your Sim can compete as many times as they’d likein one day, so more horses means you’ll hit 15 competitions in a fraction of the time.
Win Gold In Five Master Horse Competitions
While the previous portion of the aspiration is tied to simplyenteringcontests, your Sim also wants to win it all bytaking gold in five Master-level competitions.
Master is thefinal level of each type of competition. Because of this, you’ll need toplace in each level of competition before Masterbefore you’re able to even enter a Master-level competition for the first time.
At this level,your horsewill need to haveLevel Ninein theprimary skillbeing checked for the competition, andLevel Fivein thesecondary skill. Additionally, your Sim needs to reachLevel Nineof theHorse Riding skill.
However,even qualified horses may not take gold, which means you may find yourself needing tocompete oftenfor the best chances to win.
It doesn’t matter which competition, either - as long as you take gold, it counts, which means you cancompete in the same Master-level competition five timesif your horse is good at those two particular skills!
Place In The Ultimate Horse Championship
The Ultimate Horse Championship is thefinal and most difficult horse competitionin The Sims 4: Horse Ranch.
To enter, your horse must havewon the Master level of each competition before it, and havemastered all four skills. Additionally, while it’s part of the aspiration itself, your Sim should also haveLevel Ten Horse Riding skillbefore entering.
While taking gold is obviously the dream,you only need to placeto complete this portion of the Championship Rider aspiration. Second or third place count just as equally as placing first!
Championship Rider Aspiration Reward
Congrats on proving yourself as a horse rider extraordinaire!The aspiration takes quite some time to complete, so good on you for all the hard work.
Your grand prize for completing the Champion Rider aspiration in The Sims 4: Horse Ranch is an additional trait for your Sim:Grand Champ Trainer.
Sims with this trait receive anumber of perks, including:
If your Sim lives on a ranch, it’s helpful tocomplete the aspiration as early into ranch life as you can, so you can continue to reap these benefits with the other horses on the ranch.
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