1 year later Feedback Horse Pack

I absolutely love this pack. The world.  Still living in Chestnut Ridge. The build/buy. CAS. The horses, mini goats and sheep. The gameplay. I have been actively playing with all the features since release.

This was the first pack that made me wish we could have more Sims in a household (without mods) so that I could have more horses.

I bought it pretty soon after it came out, and I love the western setting of the town.  Of course Chestnut Ridge is not the only place I have horses or other animals.  Though I don’t have too many western sims, I do like the ranch/western furniture.  I’m sad that there were no rocking horses for toddlers.  Still hoping they will bring a rocking horse out sometime.  This pack made me wish we could have more than 8 sims on a lot too.

Lately, I have been focusing on a family without a horse, to move them to the Lovestruck town.  I have found that many towns are good for horses. And mini animals though. And Horse Ranch is still one of my top packs ( though I do have a lot of favorites ).  

I love the pack and I love its western setting wouldn't have been interested in Hamptons at all Brindleton Bay has enough of that for me 😅 Also I love Strangetown so theres that

but I do have few frustrations like

1. not having option to rent stable for my horses via phone or something I can't always fit stable on my sims lot so I get really sad watching the horsies in bad weather 😕 sending them to off lot "daycare" would have been nice option to have
2. for the same reason I wish there was more horsie wear so I could imagine they're not freezing like horsie rain jackets, big warm horsie blankets, silly holiday wear for horsies... 
3. would have been nice to put horse activity items in my sims magic backpack and place anywhere would be great for those big empty spaces off lot and also save space on actual lots like I have this lovely stable + mansion in henford but theres no way I can add horse jumps and barrels anywhere on the lot and theres perfectly good space for it off lot and its so annoying *sighs*
4. missing saloon door. I'm sorry but western theme just needs saloon door and it will upset me forever until theres saloon door in the game
5. the competition building being completely rabbithole like idk maybe competition had to be rabbithole as it would have needed more animations but there still could have been indoor riding area with jumps and barrels there so I wouldn't need to use whole extra lot for that

I love this pack, actually. It's a top contender for favorite EP for me, if not my favorite. But I really love horses, goats and wine so maybe that's a given, lol. I think the horses are awesome and so much fun to play with; lively with different personalities, a variety of appearances, and the goats are hilarious; fainting and screaming and eating garbage,lol. They're pretty easy to care for as well and help weed gardens. Nice addition to Cottage Living farms.

I love the world too, though I didn't expect to. There's a lot of great open space and long roads to ride, and the phantom horse and ghosts that wander the ridges are a fun touch. 

The CAS and build/buy are decent, and I find uses for them, but that's because I really like to play in older timelines and like using rustic environments.

I don't really use the rabbit holes. But that's okay because I have horses in Sulani, Forgotten Hollow,  Henford, and will be expanding them to more worlds. I have no need for cars at this point, but I do wish we had gotten horse-drawn carriages and coaches. Maybe one day.

So, yeah, there could have been more added instead of rabbit holes to make this a little more of an EP, but I find myself using it constantly and I'm really glad to have it.

An old money equestrian sports themed world wouldn't have opened my wallet, but I'm the player who is still waiting for a proper slum, so there's that.

Chestnut Ridge is pretty much the only world matching the browns of Batuu, so I'm stuck with it and have taken quite the liking the that world, but I prefer to play my horses in Moonwood Mill (many of my sims own descendants of the old sawmill workhorses) and Henford.

My gripes are minor; there could be more fun items than that ball, genetics are boring, throwing occurs way too often and I miss an option to stable horses externally. As of now they will forget their owners if moved into a different household and a sim riding a horse that isn't part of their household can not enter competitions.
I also dislike that saddles are cosmetic only, compared to Sims 3, where a horse wearing a saddle for too long grew uncomfortable.
Lastly, with many simmers running involved medieval saves I'm surprised that there aren't knights themed saddles and costumes as CAS options.

Long story short, I don't feel fatigue setting in yet, to the contrary I plan another playthrough of the Oregon Trail challenge sometime. It would be my first one with real horses. (The challenge moves the sims to a different environment every week, it's not restricted to western-themed worlds.)

I think it really helps that I'm neither an expert on horses nor particularly interested in how breeding and competitions really work. For a layman, they just add atmosphere and new things to do.

I also bought Horse Ranch not too long ago on sale, so I'll add my feedback to this thread as well.  Overall, I genuinely like the pack & what it offers - the horses, the mini goats & sheep, the world, & the Build/Buy.  However, for an EP, the pack does feel a bit lacking.  I am disappointed that:

• The household limit was not expanded;
• Genetics for foals appears to be limited to a copy of one parent;
• There are no unicorns, only a wearable horn;
• You can't breed the mini goats or sheep and there is no "kid" or "lamb" life stage for them;
• There is no golden mini sheep or "golden fleece;"
• There is no special nectar for mermaids or aliens;
• There is no mechanical nectar press option;
• There are no nectar skill books;
• Ranch Hand is not a playable career & the Community Board jobs are just rabbit holes; 
• You need Cottage Living to harvest milk from the goats & wool from the sheep;
• The treats from Cottage Living can't be fed to the new animals;
• The vet career from Cats & Dogs was not expanded to include the new animals;
• Horseback riding & nectar making can't be chosen as a club activity;
• There is no nectar making club perk.

I also wish that the pack included a few more things like:

• A mechanical bull;
• Gambling (even if it's just a re-skin of Sabacc);
• Pool tables;
• More items/activities for kids, such as a rocking horse, a stick horse, or the ability to play "cops & robbers" or tag; 
• A new craft skill such as weaving, basket weaving and/or pottery;
• More harvestables such as oranges, wheat, or corn; and
• A functional tractor (even if it could only be partially functional).

Oh, I'm actually surprised to read your statements. Especially as you got the pack at maybe 50% of my cost. The only thing we have in common is not being deeply into the horse culture. Although I never cared much about horses, I love tending to them in my game. This pack is - along with Cottage Lifestyle(?) probably those adding most to my game in general. And I like that we can add the horses to any world and create the western or modern style environment that we want.

Do you have other worlds? Did you try building a ultra-modern stable in San Myshuno or Newcrest?

The only thing that I miss at times is to compete for those equestrian awards in other worlds than Chestnut Ridge. It just feels a bit weird traveling that far to participate. It would make sense if equestrian sports was a thing in other worlds, too, if we wanted to add the feature there.

I agree the b/b catalog is mainly relevant to Chestnut Springs, but at least the nectar making items are used all over my game. Some rustic furniture are good in many countryside worlds, too. Especially when there is a version without the native patterns.

I'll tell ya my thoughts and feelings about the ranch pack are very raw and its nice to have an opportunity to exchange w real Equestrian enthusiasts. I just recently got this pack about one month ago, and I cannot believe the quality of graphics, animations and style that was put into this. I am absolutely ignorant of Equestrian culture, i always found it somewhat out of reach. But i always liked horses i think they're the most beautiful creature on earth. So I got the bug with this pack. I went online to learn about the western, and English way of riding. Evidently a choice was made to do only one style. Maybe English riding could be a later expansion pack combining cottage living and horse ranch elements and blend it into a new horse themed expansion. Just my thought. So... i fell in love w this pack. Being a fan of Lucky Luke i ofc always wanted to be a cowbow since childhood. So after i learned online and watched a whole bunch of barrel racing as well as dressage videos on the tube,  i just love it and embrace it all. But it is imo a good choice to lean to the western style. Makes it more accessible... just my humble opinion ! 

Thanks for all the responses you guys gave me. Much appreciated! 😌

I never bought it but I keep getting ads for it.

I thought horse competitions being rabbit holes was a terrible design so I never bought it.