The Best Video Games For Horse Owners

Owning a horse can be a hectic and expensive business. The great range of livery yards on our site helps make it easier, with plenty of trained professionals looking after your pride and joy. Not everybody can qualify to look after horses; training as a livery yard manager is intense and takes a lot of dedication.

However, that doesn’t mean horse lovers can’t turn their hand to training and raising a horse; they just have to turn to video games. In recent times, horses have been depicted in multiple big titles, with the Rockstar classic Red Dead Redemption 2 encouraging you to groom your horse, feed them and even talk to them. It’s even explained by IGN that you could tame wild horses and take them for your own, which was a nice minigame within the main quest. Looking after a real horse goes much deeper, but it was a nice mechanic that would appeal to real horse owners.

Horse-themed games are not new; many years ago, on 8-Bit machines, titles such as Horse Racing With The Commodore 64 and Omni-Play Horse Racing were hits, and as technology has improved, so have the horse themes. You can find horse-themed games among the Foxy Games online slot titles, including Rainbow Riches Race Day and Slingo Racing. Other games, such as Starters Orders 7 on PC, add flesh to the bones of those titles to create a great racing simulator. However, horses are not just about racing. They’re for breeding, raising, nurturing and loving, and few video games offer that experience.

There are some great titles for those wanting the digital livery experience rather than a simple racing-themed game, and we’ve pulled together three of the best for all you wannabe livery yard managers, would-be trainers and horse lovers.

Rival Stars Horse Racing

Rival Stars Horse Racing is a horse racing game, like some of the ones we’ve already mentioned, but it has sufficient backstory and depth to appeal to those looking for a more immersive experience. It opens with you inheriting a horse farm from your grandfather, and once you get the keys, the future is yours to decide. You can work as a jockey, breed horses by diving into genetics, and even hire staff to improve your facility. Outside of the racing element, there’s enough to keep a more discerning horse fan happy.

Howrse

Howrse is a very popular game with more than 60m registered users, and it offers real flexibility for those hoping for a livery yard experience. You can breed and train horses, but not just for racing; your horses can compete in five disciplines: dressage, showjumping, cross-country, trot, and gallop races. There are some deep customisation options, including horse designs which you can share with others in the online community.

My Riding Stables: A Life With Horses

My Riding Stables: A Life With Horses operates on the premise of you inheriting an old horse farm and a horse. The game’s objective is to care for the horse and improve the farm as you do. It’s almost a livery yard management simulator, especially as you can have other horses stay at your facilities and invite guests to stay on your farm. Eventually, you can turn your property into breeding stables and trade horses.

So, if you’re after a little distraction from your own horse ownership, want to see what horse ownership is like in the virtual world, or need something ti replace the urge of equestrianism after giving up horse ownership in the real world, then one of these could be for you!