There's quite a bit of this already available with Horse Ranch Liljabakk. You can already build any kind of stall/stable you want, individual and both indoor and outdoor. I turn off weather effects (with Seasons) for outdoor stalls. The only thing you need is the Hay now horse bed then just build any kind of stall around it, using fencing, walls or half walls. You can add different rooms for caring for horses by calling the horse over to a tack room to be cared for. There are decorative items in Horse Ranch to add to tack rooms, although we could use some more. There are saddle/tack displays but I'd definitely like more of those.
There are horse competitions/prizes at the Hay Now Equestrian centre in New Appaloosa but of course we don't get to watch them. You can train horses for Barrel racing, Endurance, Show jumping and Western Pleasure (mostly temperament and endurance). But I wish they'd included dressage.
You can have an Equestrian/Horse Training/Breeder career. You just need to use Register with the Ministry of Labour on the phone, design your job title and career info then build your premises. I have a horse trainer/breeder and a professional equestrian. To breed and sell horses you can use Manage Households to move a horse/foal to another family like you would with a Sim and then as you move the horse, at the bottom of the screen you can manually transfer the funds to the breeder's household (you can use the horse's monetary value from the Simology panel as a guide). Since they can't buy the horse directly that's the way you can do it if you want the horse to remain in the game. Or, you can just sell horses with the computer or community board if you don't mind losing them from the game. My Equestrian Sim supplements her income by writing horse books. My ranchers sell nectar or harvestables to earn money, as well as from horse sales. You can hire Ranch Hands to help out too.
You can create your own equestrian centre by leaving your lot open and letting visitors interact with the horses. My horse breeder has an open ranch for my Sims to visit when I switch households. By adding jumps and barrels you can have Sims train there with their own horse or with one of the horses on the lot. I use the Always Welcome reward trait if I want my Sims to stay at a lot or make themselves at home, you can even add bunk rooms for Sims with that trait if you are playing the visiting Sim. The Friendly Introduction reward trait is handy to befriend the stable owner, but it still works without. You can even take horses out for a gallop. It does need to be on a home lot or a residential small business (B&H) lot though as the horses can't be left at another lot. With the Business and Hobbies expansion pack you can add entry fees to a small business with horses to earn income but the owner must live with the horses as when they leave a business lot, the horses go home with the owner.
Horses already have personalities with different traits and form friendships with each other. For example a Brave horse will comfort another horse that becomes scared.
To make your stables, etc more interesting have you looked in debug? With the codes bb.showhiddenobjects and bb.showliveeditobjects (these do not require testingcheats true to enable them) you can find some more decorative items, trucks, etc.
If you go to The Gallery and search "Stables" or "Equestrian" you'll see some creative lots that might interest you.
I'd like to see smaller ponies added for my little equestrians. The horses do vary slightly in size but not enough. Little ponies would be adorable.
Thank you for your reply and for sharing all these tips! I really appreciate it, and I know about many of the features you mentioned.
I know what is already included in Horse Ranch, and I understand that many things can be created using the existing features, creative building or workarounds. I think Horse Ranch is a great expansion, but I would love to see the horse gameplay become much more realistic, detailed and diverse.
I'm not necessarily asking for things that are completely new, but rather for existing features to be developed much further and for more realistic gameplay.
Here are some of the things I would love to see:
Riding and animations:
Many more realistic riding animations.
Different riding positions depending on the discipline.
Different saddles, such as jumping saddles, dressage saddles, Icelandic saddles and Western saddles.
More realistic movements and transitions between gaits.
More animations for grooming, saddling, mounting and dismounting.
More realistic interactions between horses and riders.
Dressage and show jumping:
A proper dressage system with different tests, levels and movements.
Dressage competitions with judges and scores.
More realistic show jumping with different heights, obstacles and combinations.
The ability to build your own jumping courses.
More challenging courses and different competition levels.
Cross-country and eventing.
More English and European riding disciplines instead of so much focus on Western riding.
Competitions and shows:
I would really love to actually participate in competitions myself, rather than just sending horses away or receiving results.
I want to be able to:
Enter show jumping and dressage competitions.
Control my Sim and horse during the actual competition.
Prepare and groom the horse before competing.
Choose the correct saddle, bridle and equipment.
Warm up the horse before entering the arena.
Compete against other Sims.
Receive scores, ribbons, trophies and prizes.
Take care of the horse after the competition, including cooling down, grooming and resting.
I would love competitions to feel like real horse shows, with different classes, riders, spectators and judges.
Horse transportation:
I would also love a proper horse transportation system!
Different horse trailers and horse trucks.
The ability to physically load and unload horses.
Different trailers for one, two or several horses.
The possibility of transporting multiple horses.
Loading horses before travelling to competitions and unloading them when arriving.
Preparing the horses and equipment before leaving.
Loading the horses again after the competition and travelling home.
Ponies and horse breeds:
I agree that smaller ponies would be amazing! I would love to see:
Shetland ponies.
Welsh ponies.
Connemara ponies.
More noticeable differences in horse and pony sizes.
Pony riding lessons and competitions for younger Sims.
More Norwegian breeds, such as Fjord horses, Dølahest and Nordlandshest.
Icelandic horses with realistic gaits, including tölt.
Riding schools and stable life:
I would also love the ability to properly own and manage a riding school, with riding instructors, students, regular lessons, different riding levels, lesson horses and ponies, and riding camps.
For stable life, I would love more building and decorating items, such as:
More stable doors, windows and stall designs.
Tack rooms with saddles and bridles.
Wash bays and grooming areas.
More stable equipment and decorations.
More types of fences, paddocks and shelters.
More indoor and outdoor arena equipment.
More jumping obstacles and dressage arena decorations.
I would also love more detailed horse care, feeding, veterinary visits, farrier visits, breeding, genetics and realistic horse behavior.
I know that some of these things can already be done in different ways, but I would love to see them as proper gameplay features instead of having to use workarounds or pretend that certain activities are happening.
I don't want to replace Horse Ranch. I want to build on what we already have and make the horse gameplay much more realistic, detailed and enjoyable.
I think there is so much potential for The Sims 4 to become a much better horse game!
And I completely agree with you about smaller ponies. They would be adorable! ❤️
