Horsing Around in The Sims 3!
Despite owning The Sims 3 since its launch and the Pets expansion for some time, I’ve never explored The Sims 3 Horses in game. Of course, I’ve seen them roaming around my world yet, I’ve always kept myself to just playing with Cats and Dogs.
Now, you might be thinking, how is that possible? Well, I just never got around to it. However, with The Sims 4 Horse Ranch expansion pack releasing soon, now was probably the best time to experience The Sims 3 Horses for the first time.
Table of Contents
A Neigh-bourly Experience
First things first, I needed a Sim. I jumped straight into Appaloosa Plains and started to explore the pre-made households. After some exploring, I decided to go with the pre-made Curley family, who reside in Curley Copse. They were a small household of two Sims and a cat called Petunia, nothing too difficult, right?
“Dangnabbit, NO this land is not for sale!” – These are the first and last words any politician or businessman will hear when they pay Tate Curley a visit. As a descendant of one of the oldest settlers in town, Tate finds himself sitting on a prime piece of real estate right along Main Street. As outside pressure increased, Tate and Esme became introverted and guarded, building walls to keep unwanted visitors out. If someone could only find a way to break through their gruff exterior, a veritable encyclopedia of the town’s history and stories of the old west await.
The Curley Household – Appaloosa Plains
I have to admit, I’m playing The Sims 3 completely vanilla, with no additional mods or tweaks made to the game. The reason I chose to play like this was because this was how I would have experienced the game when I originally played The Sims 3 back in the day!
With that aside, it was now time to find my first horse!
Acquiring a Horse
I know, I know, why didn’t I just create one in Create A Sim when I started? That would have been too easy, much like choosing a household that already had a horse too. Luckily, finding a horse is straight forward.
I hopped onto Esme’s laptop and searched for pets to adopt from the local animal shelter. You can also adopt a horse by using your Sims’ mobile phone or by the newspaper.
After being presented with several adoption options for The Sims 3 Horses, I settled on an Adult horse named Hiphop, however before they arrived, I had to make sure my lot was ready for them!
With everything ready, it was time to welcome Hiphop to the family!
Welcome to the Family!
Welcome to the Curley Household, Hiphop!
I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect now that I had adopted a horse, however after Hiphop appeared on my screen for the first time, I knew it would be okay.
I Immediately got to the basics of building up a relationship with Hiphop and taking care of their needs. This was pretty straight forward and didn’t take long for our new friend to become an integral part of the Curley household.
So far, my impressions of The Sims 3 Horses has been pretty positive however, I’ve only scratched the surface. There was still a lot to find out and discover. Something that I knew would only take time through playing.
At this point, my computer was somewhat undecided on if it wanted to co-operate or not but, regardless of that, I pushed through the few issues I was experiencing so that I could explore Appaloosa Plains with my new horse friend.
Exploring Appaloosa Plains
Now that a few days had passed, it was time to explore the neigh-bourhood. Initially, I took my Sim out with Hiphop to explore the immediate area around Curley Copse. We bumped into some other Sims with their horses but decided it was time to take it to the next level. It was time to visit the Equestrian Regional Training Grounds.
At this point, I felt that I had a pretty basic understanding of The Sims 3 Horses. More so in regard to taking care of their needs and building a relationship with them.
Training & Seminars
Before I had a chance to get to the training ground, I was presented with a Seminar opportunity. The random event gave me a chance to improve my Skills with Hiphop in The Sims 3 Horses.
Without further ado, both my Sim and Hiphop galloped into the session!
The seminar was a hit and we improved on both our Jumping and Racing skills. As my Sim was at the Equestrian Regional Training Grounds, I decided it was best to take advantage of the facilities on offer to me. This turned out to be beneficial for everyone as well as a lot of fun overall.
My Thoughts on The Sims 3 Horses so far
Now that I’ve had a chance to explore the basics, the next task will be levelling up Hiphop’s skills and relationships. I might even enter a few competitions in the future too! Once I’ve done that, I will be looking to add another horse (or two) to the household and even look into breeding horses as well as hopefully discovering a mystical unicorn.
I know I’ve only really touched upon the basics, and there’s still a lot more to explore. I’ve also got the Horseman career that I’ve still got that I can explore too! There’s still some time left between now and The Sims 4 Horse Ranch releasing so I’ll have a chance to play and discover more until then. It’s been a lot of fun so far and I can’t wait to see what else The Sims 3 Horses has in store for me!
Having left explore The Sims 3 horses for so long, it does make me wonder why I did leave it so long. I had a lot of fun discovering features of The Sims 3 I hadn’t before and I’m looking forward to exploring more in the Pets expansion and the game as a whole going forward!
We hope you enjoyed having a look at The Sims 3 Horses ahead of the upcoming expansion release with us. Sims Community will be keeping you up to date with everything you need to know about The Sims 4 Horse Ranch right here!
