The Sims 4 Horse Ranch Review: A Smooth Ride (PC)

Horses made their debut in The Sims 3 with the Pets Expansion. Now they have returned in The Sims 4 in their own Expansion, titled Horse Ranch. The arrival of horses has been exciting, but has it lived up to expectations or been a disappointment? Are horses better in The Sims 4 than they were in The Sims 3? This review of The Sims 4 Horse Ranch Expansion will hopefully give you the answers to these questions. Plus, there’s more to this Expansion Pack than just horses. There’s a vast western-style world, complete with new outfits, objects and interactions, and the ability to run your own ranch, with mini sheep and goats. This review will delve into these new features as well.

The Sims 4 Horse Ranch Expansion Pack is available on PC via Steam, EA App, and Epic Games, Mac, Xbox consoles, and PlayStation consoles for $39.99.

Story – Ranch Life in Chestnut Ridge

The Sims 4 is an open world sandbox game where you are free to create your own stories. However, the addition of Horse Ranch presents many new scenarios for Sims, as well as a new setting. The world that comes with Horse Ranch is called Chestnut Ridge, which seems based on the western USA. There’s a gulch to explore, riding trails, and a classic western-style town. Chestnut Ridge is huge, and appropriately so, giving you plenty of space to ride around on horses. I’m quite pleased with getting a world like Chestnut Ridge because I’d been hoping for more rural American locations to play in.

Chestnut Ridge comes with four pre-made households to play with. If you’re new to The Sims 4 or the Horse Ranch Expansion, it might be worth checking these households out. They either own horses, own a ranch, or make nectar, so they’re good for testing out the new features. Or, as always, you can get your own Sims and move them into any of the vacant lots. There’s quite a few lots to move Sims into. There’s a big plot of land perfect for building your own large ranch from scratch. There are also pre-built homes designed for horse ownership and nectar making in mind.

All-in-all, Chestnut Ridge has been well thought-out and designed for the Horse Ranch gameplay, as well as having its own unique style. 

The Equestrian Center is a go-to place for horse enthusiasts in Chestnut Ridge.

Gameplay – Not All Horsing Around

There are two words in the title of this Expansion Pack: “horse” and “ranch”. That’s because not only does this Expansion introduce horses, but you can also run your own ranch. There’s plenty to do in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch. I’ve already put hours into just this Expansion, and I still feel as if I haven’t done everything. However, I have played enough of The Sims 4 Horse Ranch to do a review, so let’s talk about the gameplay and what’s new.

Horses

We can’t start this section of The Sims 4 Horse Ranch review without talking about the most important thing: horses! After appearing in The Sims 3 Pets, they’ve finally made their way into The Sims 4, this time with their own Expansion. Although many were disappointed that horses weren’t included in The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs (aka the pets expansion), I think in the end this worked out better. Horses have more focus, meaning better gameplay. If I’m honest, I didn’t play with horses that much in The Sims 3, and I’m not really a big pets player in The Sims 4, but so far, I like what I’ve seen and played. Personally, I’ve enjoyed the change in gameplay because my Sims were techies who spent a lot of time on computers, but having them move out to Chestnut Ridge and live a ranch life has been a nice change of pace. Also, I had a Sim who I wasn’t sure what they were going to do, and they found a new way of life with horses.

Getting a Horse

There are many ways you can get a horse. You can head over to the Equestrian Center and get one there, adopt a horse over the phone or on the computer, by using the community board, feeding station, etc. Basically, it’s very hard not to find ways to get a horse. There are a few options with horse adoption. You can adopt a horse for a thousand simoleons. This works just like pet adoption. You can pick out a foal, adult horse, or elderly horse. You can also see their gender and traits. When you pick a horse, you can choose a different name for them. You can also rescue a horse for a quarter of the price, but these horses are more challenging, more likely to have difficult traits such as Fearful and Defiant, which can make training and bonding that much harder. I was very excited when I took my Sims to get their first horse.

Horses can also be bred so you can have foals. I thought this would be difficult to do, but it was actually pretty straightforward to get a mare pregnant. A few days later, the foal arrived. Foals are, as you can imagine, adorable and fun to take care of. 

One thing I did realize that wasn’t carried over from The Sims 3 Pets was wild horses. I was quite surprised about this. It would have been nice in a vast world like Chestnut Ridge to have wild horses to tame, since you can get stray dogs and cats.

Getting a horse for the first time in Horse Ranch is an exciting moment.

Horse Care

Once you’ve got a horse, you have to care for it. Just like cats and dogs, horses cannot be directly controlled. You can direct horses through your Sims to carry out certain actions, such as breeding, socializing, playing, going to bed, eating, and training. I don’t actually mind not having direct control because it means you can leave horses to their own devices while you go off to work or do other stuff for a bit.

Horses do need attention though. They have needs just like Sims, including hunger, energy, hygiene, fun, and social. It’s easy to track horses’ needs by hovering the cursor over them and seeing what needs attention. The hardest need I found to manage was probably Fun. For some reason, the horses didn’t want to use the play ball, and the only way I could think of entertaining them was taking them out for a ride. I wish there were more ways horses could keep themselves amused. Then again, this could be a reflection of real life, in that horses get bored if they’re not ridden.

Generally, taking care of horses wasn’t too taxing. I liked watching my Sims bond with their horses, cleaning after them and keeping them happy, taking them out for a ride. I found that while horses aren’t too demanding and time-consuming, your Sims do need a level of commitment to caring for horses. Horses aren’t completely independent. Neglected horses can apparently run away, but thankfully I never encountered this. In my household that I played for reviewing The Sims 4 Horse Ranch, I ended up with three horses (two adults and a foal) and two Sims (one who does most of the horse care while the other helps out). I found I wasn’t too overwhelmed with all the work, and neither was my Sim. My Sim’s needs didn’t get horribly neglected, and I could manage to keep the horses happy as well. Plus I had some mini sheep and goats to care for as well (more on them later).

Generally, I found that taking care of horses wasn’t overwhelming, but they do require attention from your Sims.

Training, Competitions and More Horse Stuff

So your horses are well cared for; what else do you do with them? As it turns out, there’s plenty of stuff for your Sims and their horses to do. There are competitions, for a start. There are four different competitions you can enter, each with four difficulty levels, starting at beginner and then going all the way to the top at the master level. I quite enjoyed entering my horse into competitions. If you want to win though, you have to train your horse up. You can enter competitions without the recommended skill levels, but the chances of you winning are slimmer. There’s no harm in trying though because I got first in a competition and my horse didn’t match all the minimum levels. A horse’s current mood also contributes to the outcome of a competition.

Horses have four skills: Temperament, Agility, Endurance, and Jumping. Levelling up in each of these skills unlocks more abilities, benefits and socials for your horse, but also increases their chances of success at competitions. Temperament is a skill that even foals can be taught, and makes socializing with horses much easier. The other skills requires more effort though, and specific interactions and objects. I didn’t find training my horse tedious. It was quite satisfying putting them through their exercises and watching their skill meter go up. 

There was another element to Horse Ranch that I wasn’t aware of until I started playing, which is exclusive to Chestnut Ridge: community jobs. These are a bit like odd jobs and gigs that you get in The Sims 4, where you pick a job from a list and your Sim goes off lot for a few hours and gets paid. That’s pretty much what community jobs are. You need to have a horse though, or some sheep or goats, depending on the job. All the jobs are four in-game hours long but the pay is pretty decent. There didn’t seem to be enough variety in these jobs though. I wish some more could have been added in, but it’s better than nothing.

Generally, the horse gameplay in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch was very impressive. As I’ve mentioned, it made a nice change of scenery living somewhere that wasn’t in the suburbs, and getting my Sims out of the house and spending time with horses. There were one or two minor hiccups regarding carrying out commands. Sometimes I would direct my Sim to interact with a horse, or try and get my Sim mounted on a horse to carry out some training, only for nothing to happen. Saying that, I’ve had this issue now and again before this Expansion, so I can’t blame Horse Ranch. These are little niggles that can be worked around, nothing major or game-breaking.

Horse training is a fun and rewarding activity.

Ranch Life

I’ve talked enough about horses already. There’s lots more to Horse Ranch than just horses, such as running a ranch. Ranches don’t just have to be home to horses. You can get adorable mini sheep and goats as well. Trust me, they are cute! They’re especially funny when they bounce along. Sheep and goats aren’t as hard work as horses. I found they were less demanding, meaning they didn’t take my attention away too much from the horses. In my opinion, they’re a nice little extra for your ranch, they’re adorable to look at and play with, plus you can get wool and milk from them. I did learn that if you’re going to have little sheep and goats, you ideally want two or three of each instead of just one each.

In general, ranch life really does feel like ranch life in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch. I found that if you want to run an efficient successful ranch, you need to set it up so, with all the equipment and supplies you need, building pastures and even horse stalls. My Sim was kept busy with refilling food stands, mucking up after horses, and cleaning their beds. Also, there were the actual animals themselves, which completes the ranching experience.

As I was playing on my Sims’ ranch, I couldn’t help thinking that this would combine well with the Cottage Living Expansion. Even though ranch life feels different to farm life, which has llamas, cows and chickens, you could mix the two up, although horses, goats and sheep probably keep you busy enough already. It’s an idea though. I could also see Cats & Dogs merging with Horse Ranch, with cats and dogs running around the ranch. Seasons would also be a good addition, with the seasons themselves and my Sims flower arranging on the ranch. You can see where I’m going with this. Horse Ranch has the possibility of mixing well with different expansions, so it’s not all standalone.

Mini goats and sheep gives you a little extra responsibility alongside caring for horses.

Nectar Making

I wanted to touch on another new feature for this review of The Sims 4 Horse Ranch: nectar making. I quite like creative pursuits in The Sims 4 such as painting and flower arranging, so I wanted to give this a try. I was impressed with how detailed this feature was. Not only can you make your own nectar, but you can age it by storing them in nectar holders. Nectar also ages faster in basements, a neat little detail I really appreciated. You can buy objects to deck out your Sims’ nectar basement to make it feel really authentic. Just like in real life, nectar takes a long time to age. Also, another thing I liked was that if you don’t have the ingredients you need, you can quickly stock up through the nectar maker.

I did appreciate nectar making in Horse Ranch, but I wish there was more to it. It would have been fun to mix up ingredients and come up with fun new recipes and mixtures. Also, you could have had more creativity with creating your own labels and names for nectar. Still, it was a fun side activity alongside horses and other ranch activities.

Making nectar doesn’t take long, but aging them does.

Living in Chestnut Ridge

I’ve talked about Chestnut Ridge a bit already, but I wanted to delve a bit more into it and how this world is different from the others in The Sims 4. I find Chestnut Ridge a very peaceful and scenic place to live. It’s a good getaway from the suburban worlds such as Oasis Springs. It’s ideal for horse gameplay, with plenty of space for horses to run around, and places to train horses.

But what if you don’t own a horse? Is it still worth living in Chestnut Ridge? I think so. While it is a very horsey place, you won’t feel excluded or an outsider for not owning a horse. Chestnut Ridge is a good place to go jogging, or ride around on a bike. There’s a cave in the Galloping Gulch area that Sims can explore and go on adventures. The New Appaloosa area is more of a community hub than the other two areas in Chestnut Ridge, with an old-style western town where Sims can go shopping, grab a drink at the bar, or go dancing at the nightclub. I loved sending my Sim to the nightclub and getting them cowpoke dancing on the dance floor. That was great fun to watch.

New Create-A-Sim and Build Mode Stuff

I know I’ve talked a lot about The Sims 4 Horse Ranch already, but I can’t do this review without talking about Create-A-Sim and Build Mode. Yes, there is plenty of new stuff that comes packaged with Horse Ranch, all of it fitting with the ranch theme. I wasn’t disappointed, and I don’t think many other players would be either. All this new stuff was pretty much exactly what I envisioned for an Expansion like this.

You get lots of new outfits for Sims who want to live in the dusty rustic world of Chestnut Ridge, whether you’re a horse rider, rancher, or just want to be decked out in classic western threads. I was pleased with the new cowboy hats, boots, pants with buckles, western shirts, ruffled skirts, and ranch outfits. The ranch outfits and boots were particularly detailed, coming with swatches to give the items that worn, dirtied look you might expect from working on a ranch or with horses all day. My only real disappointment CAS-wise was I felt that children and younger were neglected, only getting a handful of new stuff compared to the adults. I also thought there could have been more new hairstyles.

The new CAS content will ensure that you fit right in at Chestnut Ridge.

There’s more CAS stuff to talk about, namely new aspirations and traits. There’s two new aspirations, one that focuses on being a champion horse rider, the other a nectar maker. I played a Sim with the champion rider aspiration. Although the aspiration is only one tier, it takes a very long time and a lot of commitment to complete the aspiration, and the reward trait you get is indeed very rewarding. There’s two new traits as well: Horse Lover (I knew this trait had to be in this Expansion) and Rancher. If your Sims are going to be living in Chestnut Ridge and living the complete rancher lifestyle, these traits are practically a must.

So that’s outfits and other CAS stuff. What about new objects and such? Overall, these weren’t a disappointment either. I was a bit worried I’d be disappointed like I was with Cottage Living, but that wasn’t the case for Horse Ranch. I love the new stuff you get in this pack. I especially love the selection of new beds. I couldn’t help thinking that there was a missed opportunity to have more kids-themed stuff such as a rocking horse, similar to the one in The Sims 3 Supernatural. Another thing I wished there was were more variety of horse stuff. For a horse-focused Expansion, I felt there could have been more horse equipment and supplies. For example, there was only one type of horse feeder, one water barrel, etc.

The new objects gives you everything you need to set up the perfect ranch in Chestnut Ridge.

Graphics and Audio – Western Ranch Style

This is an Expansion Pack as opposed to a brand-new game, so the graphics won’t have changed. However, horses are brand-new to The Sims 4 with Horse Ranch, so for this review it’s worth talking about them and how they look. Generally, I think horses look really good in The Sims 4. Even though The Sims 4 has more of a cartoonish style compared to past Sims games, horses don’t look at all goofy or overly cartoonish. I was a bit worried they would, but I thought the horses looked beautiful, majestic and elegant, just like horses in real life. They’re also excellently animated. It’s clear that The Sims team’s efforts on researching horses paid off so they could look and behave as realistically as possible.

The other new stuff in Horse Ranch looks great too. Chestnut Ridge is beautiful to look at, the new outfits and other CAS stuff looks fabulously western, and the new objects are great too. The mini sheep and goats are portrayed well too. They’re especially funny when they hop along. I never get tired of watching that animation.

Let’s talk about audio next, starting back with the horses. Not only do horses look good, but they sound good too. The noises they make are realistic, again not going into the OTT goofy territory. 

There’s some new music with Horse Ranch, introduced with the new Ranch radio station. This selection of music under this category is perfect for any ranch setting. It’s great music for Sims to cowpoke dance along to, and it fits the theme of the Expansion.

The Sims 4 Horse Ranch Expansion Pack was reviewed on PC.