As some of you know, my guy Marshall is a real-life, honest-to-gawd cowboy. He grew up on a cattle ranch and rode horses to round up cattle.
As a Sims 4 player, this is convenient because I can use him as a consultant on my builds. He didn’t necessarily want to be used as a consultant for my video game horses, and there were a lot of aggravated sighs. But he was a good sport overall, and he provided excellent input.
I started by building a monitor barn because they look neat.
However, this architectural style is designed to store large amounts of hay and feed livestock like cows and pigs. It’s like a big lunchroom for cows. It’s not what people use as an equestrian barn. (Not that you can’t put horses in a monitor barn, but he knew that’s not what I envisioned.)
He helped me pick an architectural style more suitable for a traditional horse stable. I bulldozed the monitor barn and went to work.
Usually, a building like this would have a hayloft for storage or living space. But you can’t do that with this kind of roof in The Sims 4, so this one doesn’t.
Marshall was skeptical of the huge size of these stalls. Typically, a building of these proportions would have at least six stalls. But in this case, each stall must be large enough to accommodate a horse bed. I don’t know why they made horse beds so big, but it’s what I have to work with, so there you go.
Next, I had him help me with my horse outfit. I decided to train Hush Puppy as a barrel racer. I picked out what I thought was a pretty great outfit for him.
Marshall made me, and I quote, “Take all that nonsense off him.”
When I protested, he clarified that barrel racing is all about speed, so you want to have as little on the horse as possible.
“What about a little cowboy hat?” I asked.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “Horses don’t wear cowboy hats.”
“But look how cute it is!”
He did not find my argument persuasive.
Despite my complaints that he was being “no fun,” I’m pleased with his consulting work. Hush Puppy is ready for the trials!
(I still think Hush Puppy should get to wear a tiny cowboy hat, but WHATEVER, IT’S FINE.)