Animals must be correctly named

(Year 232, Summer) You might have seen a foreign mini goat and wondered where it belongs? Many of us have. They might appear on your ranch, in your back court, or maybe by the photo booth outside the local recreation center. There might be a name tag telling its name, but not any last name giving a hint on who are the owners.

A mini goat visiting a photo booth in San Sequoia.

The Health & Welfare dept. has now received too many complaints to ignore this problem. Therefore, from next year it will be obligatory to include the owner's family name on that tag!

The 15th Queen Evez Championship

(Year 232, Summer) Every other year Mazaloom's society enjoys a day with show jumping, and mingling along with some punch and cake in hand. This is the 15th competition, and a new Champion is to be found!

Queen Evez Championship is originally intended for the finer families. All Houses gets invited, and some of them will even participate in the show jumping contest. Check back a couple blog posts for more details on preparations.

Queen Evez Championship is coming up!

(Year 232, Summer) Social season is here and next weekend high society will gather for the traditional Queen Evez Championship. This bi-annual equestrian show jumping contest takes place at Queen's Stables in Newcrest, and is strongly connected to Mazaloom's aristocracy. This is where the nobles mingle, while showing off their hats as well as jewelry. You won't only run into dukes and countesses, but even the royal family attends this great happening!

Queen's Stables is located by the water at Rivercrest in Newcrest.

And of course: It does matter who wins the show jumping contest! Today the list of contenders was released, that is - the list itself is never meant to be of public interest, but we thought it would be fun seeing who will participate this year, as well as giving you a brief look into the rules.

Horse Ranch: The Training Grounds - 5 of 5

Here comes the 5th and last chapter of my unscripted mini series «The Training Grounds», where the The Sims 4 Horse Ranch EP is in focus. The Training Grounds is a residential lot owned by the M.E.A., rented by Stian Pratt-Anderson (57). There he lives alone with his 1 2 3 4 rescued horses. So why does he feel a bit lonely and grumpy?

One of Stian's traits is the High Maintenance trait, which makes him very tense at times. If you want to have your nails done more or less constantly, then you should probably not run a training center with 4 horses in the first place. But if you still do - make sure you get time to tend to your own needs, not only the horses' needs. Tornado, King, Saffron and Tuff seem to get along very well, and at least their social needs should be met.

The Mysterious Glimmerbrook Horse

(Year 232, Spring) There exist several reports, and yet nobody was allowed to get close to the white and pink Unicorn of Glimmerbrook. The owner, Count Helfert of Ticktop (48), can occasionally be seen riding this spectacular creature.

They never take a ride during daylight hours, but there is no information stating whether the horse is shy of light or they simply try to ignore curious tourists. Over the past years tourism has grown and Glimmerbrook has more short term visits than ever before. This is not thanks to the unicorn, though, but the Brook Herbarium that has become quite popular, also for exclusive but small weddings.

Glimmerbrook was always a rather secluded community, their Tickertown is still very hard to locate unless you hire a local guide. Half their population is said to reside there, in Tickertown. Glimmerbrook with Tickertown is the total of Region 8 Ticktop. With a population of only 4,000 this region is doomed to expire, as hey will shortly be merged with a neighboring region. Details are yet not official.

Horse Ranch: The Training Grounds - 4 of 5

Here comes the 4th chapter of my unscripted mini series «The Training Grounds», where features of the The Sims 4 Horse Ranch EP are explored. The Training Grounds is a residential lot owned by the M.E.A., rented by Stian. There he lives alone with his 3 rescued horses, and he just started entering competitions.

The horses Tornado, King and Saffron all seemed to like their new home. Stian Pratt-Anderson (56) recently entered with King for the Show Jumping competition, and they won Silver in the Beginner class.

Horses - Breeds, Traits, Skills and Competitions

Ever wondered what horse breed to get or what traits would be best for a certain skill or competition discipline?

Mazaloom kingdom has a well established Equestrian Association, based in Chestnut Ridge (Region 7), but with 3 clubs that can be joined by residents from any region. There is a clear rank between these clubs, and even within the clubs. Especially members of the Equestrian Contenders club are ranked according to their Master competition merits. The Community Section now provides a new section with detailed information that Horse lovers should find useful. There you can find what traits will make it easier (or harder) to build a horse's skills, and also what skills will help you winning competitions.

The Queen's Stables

It's always fun implementing the features of a new pack with my existing universe. Finally the large lot by the pond in Newcrest, in my kingdom the hood is named Rivercrest. The perfect spot for a royal stables!

This establishment was founded by Queen Evez, who died 33 years ago. She was an eager, if not so talented, Equestrian, and she wanted to have access to a royal stable on her travels away from Del Sol Valley. Military horses were trained in Chestnut Ridge and Oasis Springs, so The Queen's Stables were not involved with military strategies, although she was an extremely military focused Monarch.

Today the stables provide lodging for Royal Guard Majors, but the lot is rigged for many purposes.

Horse Ranch: The Training Grounds - 3 of 5

Here is the 3rd part of my unscripted mini series «The Training Grounds», where I explore parts of the The Sims 4 Horse Ranch EP. Stian Pratt-Anderson was forced to allow the Equestrian Club use his horses free of charge. The entire M.E.A. seems to work against him. Is it time to focus more on his equestrian dream?

Stian Pratt-Anderson (56) rents the old Chestnut Training Grounds, that's why he must obey the M.E.A.'s rules, even rules that were not mentioned in the rent agreement. He rescued two horses that visitors can borrow/rent for a ride. Stian is single, and his plan is to earn big money from winning competitions at the Equestrian Center. When he can afford it he will buy a small ranch for him and his rescued horses.

Judith Ward reacts to Horse Ball

(Year 231, Summer) In a press release global movie star Judith Ward (67) reacts negatively to the currently marketed Horse Training Ball printed with her face. It is the Sim City based company Horse-of-Course, that has released the questioned design.

The film star claims: «Using my beautiful face commercially on this horrible product is not acceptable without my permission. Such a permission can only be given at a very high cost, as I'm not the slightest interested in horses. I claim Horse-of-Course, Inc. to remove the design from all stores immediately!»

Horse Ranch: The Training Grounds - 2 of 5

Here is the 2nd part of the mini series «Chestnut Training Grounds», where I explore parts of the The Sims 4 Horse Ranch EP). Can Stian Pratt-Anderson fulfill his dream of equestrian championship? What about his business idea of charging strangers for borrowing his rescued horse? And - can he keep the Equestrian Club out of sight? Most pictures are taken during gaming sessions, unscripted.

Stian Pratt-Anderson (56) is no hero, he just rents the old Chestnut Training Grounds and he rescued one horse. He protested when the Equestrian Foals club Leader, Lady Aili, suggested to use the Training Grounds for club meetings. Stian prefers peace and quiet, with plenty of time to tend to his mental wellness while getting ready to train the mare Tornado for future competitions.

At the same time he could tell something was wrong with the horse. Tornado had no horsey friends, and although their relation was building, Stian felt sorry for his new Needy mate. He knew Mini-goats were perfect company to a lonely horse, but having them jumping around would totally step on his nerves. Could he take Tornado for a ride to meet other horses?

Horse Ranch: The Training Grounds - 1 of 5

Here is the brief story of Chestnut Training Grounds, located at New Appaloosa (The Sims 4 Horse Ranch EP). It will feature several known sims of my Mazaloom kingdom, as they come to borrow a horse to practice their Horse Riding skill, as well as Stian Pratt-Anderson, a Military guy who just wants silence and suddenly finds himself surrounded by numerous horses and an eager Equestrian club! Along the way there will also be some of my findings and comments, because most pictures are taken during gaming sessions, me exploring, normally not following a planned script.

So, this is Stian Pratt-Anderson (56), born and raised locally. Being a Horse Lover he did try Horse riding back in his youth, but he never owned his own horse. With the Championship Rider aspiration, he always wanted to spend more time with these fascinating creatures, but he also is blessed with the High Maintenance trait. How do you combine a well rested soul and perfect toe nails with the hard work of cleaning a stable?

The Simmerville Show - Equestrian edition!

(Year 231, Spring) Fritz Mervil is back with The Simmerville Show, and this time most of he guests are Equestrians debating horses, ranch life and competitions.

Disclaimer: This edition was made before the Horse Ranch EP release, so if anything said is not matching the true content, forgive me *not* :) The focus of the show is how I play my game, and all sims involved - including the live audience - are actual sims from my game.

Horse Ranch EP - Pictures and more! *** MAP added ***

 So, the game trailer is here, and I grabbed a few pictures from it. Mainly for going ahead with my planning, but it's also fun to share :) Even if you watched the trailer, things go by so quickly!

So, the Horse Ranch EP is mostly about horses, but it also comes with the new world, Chestnut Ridge, and features like mini goats, mini sheep and nectar making! For not being a horse person, I'd say I'm super excited (9 of 10), and there's lots of planning to do!

Horses look very good, and they come with numerous traits and CAS customizing. It seems like there are pretty deep levels of relations involves as well, you will need to befriend your horse in order to perform well when it comes to riding and contests. I like that!

I think it will be quite hard succeeding with the main feature when playing on rotation, as the progress might take some time. So - I'll probably add horses to just a handful of my households, and spend some time with them, and keep the other 95+ households out. Some will be busy with sheep, and others with goats, though. And - I already have a detailed routine for nectar making (custom content), which will now get improved, involving other families. I learned from Cottage Living that adding all features to one household can easily become too much...

Extra: Horse Ranch EP

I'm not really into horses, but the leaked info on this upcoming EP had me caught anyhow. I'm already planning stuff - *before* even seeing the trailer. I tell myself that I'll not get this pack, because I will probably not play horses beyond testing new features, I already have 2 desert worlds, aaand my low end computer says "NO!".

In all my worlds the horse stuff is now being advertised. How can I resist?

I created some CC already, just for the fun of seeing reminders wherever I go. Above picture shows the Showbiz Academy (that's where Judith Ward is Principal). I will find ways to implement a ranch with a business, and businesses do of course advertise their stuff...