Horse Riding and Competitions

[Gogowars329]

I have a few questions about Horse Riding.

What does a sim actually do for Horse Riding?
Are Competitions Opportunities or must you go to a Rabbit-Hole and enter?
Do you have to go to a stable to buy a horse?

[Metropolis Man]

I have a few questions about Horse Riding.

What does a sim actually do for Horse Riding?

Riding is a new skill. You must Mount the horse and then initially Go For a Ride.

Are Competitions Opportunities or must you go to a Rabbit-Hole and enter?

You go to the Equestrian Center at 5PM (at the earliest) to enter the competitions. One of my beefs at this early stage of discovering the new content is you only have time for 2 contests per day.

Do you have to go to a stable to buy a horse?

The easiest thing if you're creating a file is just to create a horse in CAP. Option 2 is to adopt a pet over the phone for free. Option 3 is to go to the Equestrian Center and buy one.

[AeonicVortex]

Though I would give a shot at answering these, since horse riding is all I did last night when I got the game.

1.) Horse riding is a skill, it goes up the more you ride a horse.  This includes the racing competitions and the jumping competitions
(as below in #2) or just doing your own courses at your sims home or park.

2.) There may be opportunities related with the Competitions, I'm not sure, but they are all done in the rabbit hole.  Around noon and 5pm sim time, the competitions open up, and you can pick which of the three competitions you want to participate in.

3.) You can buy a horse from the Equestrian Center, make one in CAS, or your sim can try to make friends with a Wild Horse found around town and adopt him into the family.

Just realized I've been reading this site for quite some time and never registered here...

And it looks like I was beaten, by a smidge, but I'll post it anyway.

[Gogowars329]

Thanks guys!

2.) There may be opportunities related with the Competitions, I'm not sure, but they are all done in the rabbit hole.  Around noon and 5pm sim time, the competitions open up, and you can pick which of the three competitions you want to participate in.

Are the three competitions all the same, or different?

[Enchanted81]

From what I've found so far, your riding skill and your horses' skills are completely separate. Both your sim and your horse (jumping and racing) can train on their own or together. Your sim can buy books at the bookstore for riding and your horse can either train at home (with the proper equipment) or at the training grounds across from the Equestrian center. I haven't had any opportunities pop up, what I've been doing is going to the Equestrian center with my horse before a competition starts and the entering them by clicking on the building. You can adopt a horse from the newspaper, phone and computer, get one from the Equestrian center, make one in CAS or befriend a wild horse.

***Edit***

Bah, got beaten to posting.

The competitions are for different things but basically the same, you have a box pop up that shows you your standing in the race and you choose the pace at which you perform.

[Daemo]

I am wondering if anyone else is having any problems with their horse's racing skill.  It seems that my horse's racing skill is stuck 1/4th of the way through level four.  It will not go up any further.

Please let me know if you are having this issue and if you have found a solution or not.  Thank You.

[MoonsAreBlue]

I haven't been having any problems. I have one horse who has maxed both skills and a sim who has maxed riding.

Thanks guys! Are the three competitions all the same, or different?

There are three types of competition and three levels of difficulty. Jumping, Racing, and Cross-County and the levels for each are Beginner, Advanced, and International.

[Leto85]

The easiest thing if you're creating a file is just to create a horse in CAP. Option 2 is to adopt a pet over the phone for free. Option 3 is to go to the Equestrian Center and buy one.

When you buy one at the Equestrian Center, does that one comes with skills and or strong genes (if this is possible)?

[MoonsAreBlue]

When you buy one at the Equestrian Center, does that one comes with skills and or strong genes (if this is possible)?

I don't think they come with any skills. When I adopted one, he came with three traits. He was the most expensive one (I think) and he has no skills, but he was a Genius, Piggy, and Quiet. I think the better the traits, the more expensive they are. The Ornery horses cost less than the one I purchased.

[Lilygirl]

Yes, I'm resurrecting an old topic because I have a quick question that I think fits here and doesn't need it's own thread.

So my question: that pop-up box when your Sim and Horse have entered a competition, is there a way to close it? It's kind of annoying sitting there in the middle of my screen when I'm trying to play a Dynasty!

EDIT: My bad! Un-select the Sim riding in the competition! That's the answer.

[MoMoll]

They don't have skills, but you can see their traits.

[ladyaya]

They don't have skills, but you can see their traits.

Horses have skills; they even have skill challenges.
The two horse skills are running and jumping. Each one has a competition for the skill, but the cross-country involves both.