Welcoming horses into The Sims 4 with the Horse Ranch expansion pack brings exciting new gameplay, particularly with Sims 4 horse breeding. This feature allows players to not only raise and care for horses but also to engage in a potentially lucrative business by breeding and selling competition-ready horses with impressive pedigrees. The game assigns a monetary value to every horse, which can be significantly increased through skills, specific traits, and competition victories. By strategically breeding your champion horses, you can generate substantial wealth for your Sims. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to become a successful horse breeder in The Sims 4.
The Essentials of Sims 4 Horse Breeding
Successful horse breeding, especially for profit, requires careful consideration of the dam and sire’s traits, skills, and competition history. Pairing the right horses is crucial for producing more valuable foals.
Mating a Mare and a Stallion
To initiate Sims 4 horse breeding, you need both a mare and a stallion. Interact with either horse and select “Friendly” interactions, then “Encourage To” > “Encourage to Breed With,” and finally, choose the other horse. A successful attempt will be indicated by the horses touching muzzles with hearts swirling around them. If it doesn’t work on the first try, continue to build the bond between your horses and allow them more time to interact. Horses are social creatures and will naturally engage with each other.
Following a successful breeding attempt, it will take several in-game hours to determine if the mare is pregnant, with a notification confirming the pregnancy.
Caring for Pregnant Mares
While a mare is pregnant, she cannot be ridden or trained on jumps or barrels, nor can she participate in equestrian competitions. Ensure she remains comfortable and happy throughout her pregnancy by regularly brushing her, interacting with her, keeping her feed bin full, and maintaining a clean stall, just as you would with any other horse.
Mares are typically pregnant for about three in-game days. You’ll observe her belly gradually expanding as the foal develops. Around day three, she will go into labor, which can take a few hours. Your Sim can help soothe the mare during this uncomfortable period by using the new “Soothe Horse in Labour” social interaction.
Upon giving birth, the foal will appear beside the mare, and you’ll be prompted to name your new colt or filly. The foal inherits one random trait from its dam and one from its sire, along with a third base trait of its own. This is why considering the dam and sire’s traits is vital for Sims 4 horse breeding if you aim for foals with specific temperaments.
The foal’s appearance, including body shape and coat color, seems to be a 50/50 inheritance from both parents. For instance, a filly might inherit her dam’s coat color and her sire’s body build, without any mixing of coat colors or patterns.
Foal Care and Development
Newborn foals are endearingly clumsy and unsteady, but they require minimal work to keep healthy and happy. They receive significant care from their dam, who nurses and grooms them. However, Sims can also bottle-feed and brush their foals. Foals can be trained to eat hay by hand-feeding them prairie grass or by calling them to eat from a patch of grass or a feed bin.
It’s important not to neglect your foal, as they need to learn how to interact with Sims. The earlier you begin developing their Temperament skill, the better. A key aspect of Sims 4 horse breeding is ensuring foals mature into adult horses with the “Well Mannered Foal” trait. This reward trait is only gained upon aging up if the foal has a high Temperament skill, significantly boosting all of its future skills.
Foals cannot be ridden or enter competitions. You must wait for them to mature before you can begin building their Agility, Jumping, and Endurance skills. The number of days until your foal ages up can be checked by hovering over its portrait in your Sim’s relationship panel.
Understanding Breedable Traits and Horse Value
For those aiming to profit from Sims 4 horse breeding, a solid grasp of how to imbue foals with specific traits to increase their value is essential. Certain traits are exclusive to horses bred and raised from foalhood.
In addition to the three base traits inherited at birth (partially influenced by the dam and sire), foals can be born with “breedable traits,” which are unique to Sims 4 horse breeding. While a comprehensive list can be found in our Horse Traits Guide, here’s a summary of key breedable traits:
- Playful: Foals may occasionally be born with the Playful trait, indicating a love for toys and Sim interaction.
- Curious: Foals born with the Curious trait are more likely to investigate various objects and will enjoy using jumps and barrels as adults.
- Champion Genes: This trait can only be passed down if the dam or sire possesses the “Champion Horse” trait, earned by winning 20 equestrian competitions. Both traits significantly increase a horse’s value and enhance skill acquisition.
- Well Mannered Foal: While not present at birth, foals can acquire this trait upon aging up if their Temperament skill was diligently developed. It provides a boost to all skill gains.
Maximizing Horse Value
To truly succeed in Sims 4 horse breeding as a business, understanding how to increase horse value is paramount. The game’s horse valuation system is detailed, and while it may evolve with further gameplay, current observations suggest several key factors:
Horses begin with a base value of $1,000. This value increases based on specific elements. To maximize profits from Sims 4 horse breeding, focus on enhancing this base value by being highly selective about your breeding pairs.
Consider these factors when breeding horses:
- Favorable Traits: Select dams and sires with traits conducive to competitions to improve the chances of the foal inheriting them. Strong base traits help in faster skill development and better competition performance.
- Champion Horse Trait: Prioritize breeding horses with the “Champion Horse” trait. Aiming for the “Champion Genes” trait in foals is crucial for quality and value. These traits directly impact a horse’s monetary worth.
- Competition Wins: The number of competitions a horse has won contributes to its value and, consequently, the value of its offspring. Continue winning competitions even after acquiring the “Champion Horse” trait, as this appears to further increase the horse’s value.
- Selling Foals: While possible, selling foals is generally not recommended. You will achieve a higher price by raising the foal to adulthood and securing some competition wins on its record.
In essence, highly skilled horses with numerous competition wins and desirable traits will produce more valuable foals. While the most valuable premade horse in the game, Duke Gooseman, is valued at $17,400, some player-bred horses have reached astonishing values of up to $45,000.
Enjoyed our Sims 4 Horse Breeding Guide? For daily horse care insights, be sure to check out our Horse Care Guide!
