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It’s no surprise that having the option to own, raise, and care for horses is the main draw inThe Sims 4 Horse Ranchexpansion, but the task itself can be more than a little daunting. With care, training, and socializing all to worry about when raising horses, you’ll have your hands full with ranch duties more often than not!
RELATED:Everything You Need To Know About The Sims 4 Horse Ranch
In this guide, we’re walking you through all the important info you’ll need to get started on caring for your horses in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch. It’s hard work, but a peaceful life on the ranch is worth it.
What Do I Need To Care For Horses?
Like with all animals in The Sims 4, horses havea few specific requirementsto make caring for them a smooth process.
Find Horse Care Items In The Outdoor Room Section Of Build Mode
If you’ve loaded into a lot that doesn’t already have a horse stable, you’ll need tobuild a functional horse stableif you’d like your horses to be happy and healthy.
There arefour thingsthe game suggests you purchase if you hope to raise horses:
These can all be located in theOutdoor roomsection of Build/Buy Mode, under thechicken coopicon in the center of the menu for the Outdoor room.
If you’re playing in Chestnut Ridge, then you’ll have plenty of options for pre-made houses that contain these items. If you’rebuilding a new house, though, just remember that you’ll needthese four essentials.
Choose Either Jumping Or Agility, If You’re Low On Funds Or Space
While it’s incredibly helpful for the competitions in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch, and overall makes your horse more valuable and well-rounded,training items for horses take up alotof space.
Thankfully, most of thenew lots in Chestnut Ridgeoffer plenty ofwide open spaceson the property, offering ample room to ride and train your horses.
However, you’llneed separate equipment for Jumping and Agility training, both of which are ratherlarge itemsin terms of their space consumption on your lot.
you’re able to train your horse in Endurance and Temperament from wherever, but to train for Jumping or Agility, you’ll need special equipment.
How To Tend To Your Horses
Assign Your Horse To A Bed, And Then Keep It Clean
Horses have anenergy need, and will become Fatigued aftertoo much training. Whenever they need to sleep, they’ll need a place to do it.
When you first place stables on your lot, much like the human Sims when they move someplace new, you’ll need toassign a horse to a bedif you’d like them to reliably go to the same place to sleep.
You can only assign one horse per bed, so if you’re raising multiple horses on your ranch, you’ll need that many beds. When the bed is placed, you’ll seepiles of hayin each bed.
As time passes, the hay willshift in the bedand eventually evenbegin to stink, meaning it’s time to change your horses' bedding.
To do so,click on the horse’s bedand choose toclean it. Horses will grow grumpy before long if kept in squalor, so stay on top of your horse hygiene!
Part of cleaning is that you need towatch out for manure pilesaround the ranch, which you’ll need tomanually clean up.
You can eitherthrow it away, orkeep itand use it tofertilize crops.
Keep The Feeders Full, And Hand-Feed Your Horses
When buying the items you’ll need for your ranch, it’s best toallow one Animal Feeder per horse, at the rate these guys consume their feed.
Each feeder costs30 simoleons to refill, so keep an eye on the food levels in your barn to ensure everyone is fed and in good health.
Additionally, if you havefruit or vegetablesin your Sim’sinventory, you’ll even be able tohand-feed produce to the horses. Doing so not only refills theirhunger need, but it’s abonding momentfor you and your horse as well.
Horses can also be led toGraze on Prairie Grassto enjoy a more natural snack while out and about.
Talk To Your Horses And Respond To Their Moods
Making friends with your horse is critical- the more you and your horse trust one another, thebetter behaved your horse will be.
This helps in situations of all kinds, fromtraining at homein skills like Endurance, all the way to seeing your horseperform well under pressurein competitions.
And as part of this, as part of theirsocial need, you’ll notice thatyour horse has plenty of different moods, just like human Sims.
You can’t open the needs panel like you can for human Sims, but byhovering the cursor over your horse, you’ll see apop-up menu with its needs, displayinghow the horse is currently feeling.
Additionally, you’ll see that, also like human Sims, horses havecolored backgrounds on their portraits that correspond to their mood.
Each mood hasunique socializationsthat either advance or fix the horse’s current mood. For example, if yourhorses get spookedand end upfeeling afraid, you can calm them down in various ways with different socialization options.
You’llgain and lose relationship pointswith horses just like other Sims and animals, so be sure you’re paying attention to your horses and making socializing a priority.
Care For The Horses Regularly
Like any creature, your hoses willget dirtyprogressively throughout the day.
Toincrease your horse’s hygiene need, you’ll need tobrush your horse regularly, which you’ll find in the menu whensocializingwith your horse.
You also need toclean their hoovesfairly often as well, which can also be found in the sameHorse Caremenu. Horses seem not to enjoy this, but it’s a necessary evil to keeping them clean.
Additionally, be sure they’vegot food in their Feeder, and that theirbed is cleanto keep them in the best mood.
Confident, happy horses perform betterwhen training or competing.
Check Your Horse’s Skills And Behavior In The Relationship Panel
Though you’renot able to control your horses directlyin The Sims 4 Horse Ranch, you’ll need to check in on them and their skill progression fairly often.
To do this,find your horse in the Relationships panel- when you click its portrait, you’ll have the option toOpen Profilefor your horse.
Here, you can keep track of several important pieces of information about your horse, which include:
This tab makes it much easier for you to track your horse’s training progress and important event information, so keep your eye out for new information added as you continue raising your horses.
