The Sims 4: Horse Ranch Bonding Guide

The Sims 4: Horse Ranch Bonding Guide

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We all want our pets to like us no matter their shape or size, and the same is true in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch! With horses added to the Sims 4 animal rosters for the first time, you’ve now got the chance to live out all of your equine dreams.

But that’ll be a lot easier to do with a horse that likes you. The bonds you build with your horses are critical to their training, competitive abilities, and general overall happiness. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to bond with your horse in The Sims 4.

horse-ranch

What Does A Bond With Your Horse Impact?

Building up a rapport with your horse in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch is critical if you’re hoping to be a successful rancher.

One of the first things you’ll notice when you first begin your new horse-based life is that horses respond better when they like the Sim they’re speaking to or training with.

When you’re training a horse, it will always train better with a Sim it likes than to one it doesn’t.

And naturally, with so many competitions and Community Jobs on the line as your horses gain skill, training is generally easier, so it’s best to simplify where you can.

Horses Have Traits And Personalities

Like other animals in The Sims 4, horses have a variety of traits they’re liable to pick up.

If you’re making your horse in Create-a-Sim, you’ll have control over your horse’s traits. However, if you opt to buy or breed a horse, you’re left to the game’s decisions, and trait assignment is random.

horse-profile

To see what type of traits your horse has, check out its Profile by clicking on its portrait in the Relationships tab, which offers a detailed look at your horse’s life, achievements, and skills.

The first row shows your horse’s traits. Horses can have up to three traits, with 11 total traits available for horses.

Traits
Aggressive Brave
Defiant Energetic
Fearful Free Spirit
Friendly Independent
Intelligent Mellow
Needy

These traits, just like human traits, seek to make you tailor interactions to each horse as an individual, rather than offering a blanket option for horse care and socialization.

bond-with-horse

How To Bond With Horses

In general, the easiest way to build a bond with your horses in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch is to spend a good amount of time just talking to them while you’re performing their daily care and keeping.

The more you interact with a horse on a regular basis, the easier it is to bond with them, which also helps to build their Temperament skill.

For the most part, horses enjoy friendly socials that include things like chatting, joking, or petting from their owners, and may get testy when being cleaned.

However, you’ll notice that your horses will sometimes be in bad moods, feeling things like Sad if left alone for too long or Scared when (easily) spooked.

comforting-horse

If your horse is in a bad mood, you’ll see several options in the socialization menu with a colored circle corresponding to the color of the horse’s mood.

These interactions will help ease the horse’s mood quicker than if you just leave it be to wait the feeling out. Horses can routinely use comfort and cheering up, so be sure to check in on them often.

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