Horse Ranch and Get Together (Clubs)
I've seen a lot of complaints that there is no way to use the club system with either equestrian or nectar-making gameplay. While I agree that there were probably a few missed opportunties when it comes to fully integrating these systems, my theory was that there were still some ways to get creative and make clubs work for these new activities. So I decided to play around with the options a bit, and I wanted to share what I have found so far. If anyone has tried something similar, and has other ideas about how to make these clubs work, please jump in as well!
*Equestrian Club: You can make the members of your club sims who have a horse-related aspiration. While aspirations are not a category in club requirements, you can still choose to manually add sims with the equestrian aspiration. You can also use the requirements to limit membership to Sims with Horse Riding skill 2+. Sometimes what I do with the skill requirements in particular is add them, to narrow down my search for specific sims, add those sims as members, and then remove the skill requirement before saving the club, in case I want to add other sims later. There is also the ability to limit membership to sims with the Horse Lover trait.
*It is also true that you cannot make horses a member of the club. However, you can convene a club meeting on your home lot with your horse present, or you can hold the meeting elsewhere, and either take your horse with you or invite them to that location after the meeting begins. You can also invite other horses you know to the lot.
*Example: you start an Equestrian club with your sim and similar sims, who all have the horse aspirations and/or traits, as well as likes for horse riding, and likes for discussing hobbies and interests. You begin a meeting at the park next to the equestrian center. Your sims may not autonomously begin riding, but they will typically begin discussing horses, the outdoors, etc. If you like, you can set up the club rules where they have a glass of nectar while they discuss horses. You can then invite your horse and other horses you know to the lot. If the club members are horse lovers or animal enthusiasts, they will often interact with the horses autonomously. If the horses in question are needy, affectionate, brave, etc., they are also likely to initiate interactions with the human sims. Setting "Social: Be Friendly" (to everyone) also seems to increase the odds of interactions with the horses, particularly combined with the traits above. You can also "go here together" to the outside, non-rabbithole portion of the equestrian center, call your sim over, and begin using the skill objects outside the equestrian center with your horse. At a minimum, some of the other sims will usually watch as you do so.
*Nectar Making: This is similar to what I have described above. You can manually add sims to the club who have the nectar aspiration. You can also limit membership to those who have the Nectar Making skill at 2+. As with horses, if you select members who have these affinities and skills, and whose likes and dislikes also make them enjoy nectar making and want to talk about hobbies and skills, then you will have a chatty bunch eagerly discussing nectar at length.
I would also recommend giving them the gardening skills and interests, as you can then have club meetings at your home nectary or a community garden, and they will start working on those plants for/with you.
*Things I have not tried yet: setting Care for Animals as a club activity. This might or might not increase the odds that club members will autonomously groom or feed horses, for example. Also, I have not yet checked to see whether there is an option to "Spectate" at the equestrian center with a group. I have not tried adding "drink bar drinks" as a club activity and then setting out bottles of nectar to see whether sims will drink from them. However, I strongly suspect that if you make a cheese plate and put out bottles of nectar, sims will eat and drink, especially if you have eating and drinking set as club activities. I also have not checked yet to see whether the Foodie trait would make any difference.
*Equestrian Club: You can make the members of your club sims who have a horse-related aspiration. While aspirations are not a category in club requirements, you can still choose to manually add sims with the equestrian aspiration. You can also use the requirements to limit membership to Sims with Horse Riding skill 2+. Sometimes what I do with the skill requirements in particular is add them, to narrow down my search for specific sims, add those sims as members, and then remove the skill requirement before saving the club, in case I want to add other sims later. There is also the ability to limit membership to sims with the Horse Lover trait.
*It is also true that you cannot make horses a member of the club. However, you can convene a club meeting on your home lot with your horse present, or you can hold the meeting elsewhere, and either take your horse with you or invite them to that location after the meeting begins. You can also invite other horses you know to the lot.
*Example: you start an Equestrian club with your sim and similar sims, who all have the horse aspirations and/or traits, as well as likes for horse riding, and likes for discussing hobbies and interests. You begin a meeting at the park next to the equestrian center. Your sims may not autonomously begin riding, but they will typically begin discussing horses, the outdoors, etc. If you like, you can set up the club rules where they have a glass of nectar while they discuss horses. You can then invite your horse and other horses you know to the lot. If the club members are horse lovers or animal enthusiasts, they will often interact with the horses autonomously. If the horses in question are needy, affectionate, brave, etc., they are also likely to initiate interactions with the human sims. Setting "Social: Be Friendly" (to everyone) also seems to increase the odds of interactions with the horses, particularly combined with the traits above. You can also "go here together" to the outside, non-rabbithole portion of the equestrian center, call your sim over, and begin using the skill objects outside the equestrian center with your horse. At a minimum, some of the other sims will usually watch as you do so.
*Nectar Making: This is similar to what I have described above. You can manually add sims to the club who have the nectar aspiration. You can also limit membership to those who have the Nectar Making skill at 2+. As with horses, if you select members who have these affinities and skills, and whose likes and dislikes also make them enjoy nectar making and want to talk about hobbies and skills, then you will have a chatty bunch eagerly discussing nectar at length.
I would also recommend giving them the gardening skills and interests, as you can then have club meetings at your home nectary or a community garden, and they will start working on those plants for/with you.
*Things I have not tried yet: setting Care for Animals as a club activity. This might or might not increase the odds that club members will autonomously groom or feed horses, for example. Also, I have not yet checked to see whether there is an option to "Spectate" at the equestrian center with a group. I have not tried adding "drink bar drinks" as a club activity and then setting out bottles of nectar to see whether sims will drink from them. However, I strongly suspect that if you make a cheese plate and put out bottles of nectar, sims will eat and drink, especially if you have eating and drinking set as club activities. I also have not checked yet to see whether the Foodie trait would make any difference.
