What are the best horse games? Whether you’re just looking to brush a magnificent mane or want to build an equestrian empire, these games are a great place to start. They’re probably the only way you can spend time with some fabulous fillies without having to empty your pockets or volunteering to clear out the stables, and there’s no risk of a back-breaking kick if you stop paying attention for two seconds.
For more awesome outdoor activities distilled into super playable sims, be sure to check out our lists for the best golf games, fishing games, cricket games, and baseball games. Or, if it’s more animals that you’re after, see our picks for the best dog games, bear games, and cat games on Switch and mobile.
Here are the best horse games:
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch – Nintendo Switch
There’s more than meets the eye in Emerald Valley Ranch. While riding, taming, and breeding horses is still key, you can also discover a deep story about the peninsula while restoring your ruined family home. As you canter through the fields and forests, discover secrets of the island where you live, and meet villagers that can help you out.
But enough of that. You can tame wild horses and turn them into excellent showjumping ponies, and keep them in your customizable ranch. Each horse has its own traits and personality, so need specific care, which tests your skills as a rider and owner.
The Sims 4: Horse Ranch – Steam Deck
Chances are, there’s Sims 4 DLC for everyone, but we’re talking about the Horse Ranch expansion pack. It adds the wholesome new world of Chestnut Ridge, where you can play as a pre-made family (with their own horses, of course), or make your own budding jockey.
You can create your own horses in the Create-A-Sim menu, then take them out into the world. Go on long rides, do some jumps, do some training and grooming – all in a themed build using the new build and buy mode items. There’s plenty of suitable clothing for your Sims to wear as they raise foal after foal, too.
Horse Riding Tales: Wild Pony – mobile
The most all-encompassing horse riding experience on mobile, Horse Riding Tales: Wild Pony has a lot to offer. From show jumping and dressage competitions to test you and your horse’s skills, to casual cooperative rides through rural locations, there’s never a shortage of equestrian activities in Horse Riding tales.
Better still, there are over ninety different breeds of horse to tame and collect in this title, so you can find a filly that suits your style.
Equestriad World Tour – mobile
There’s no shortage of horse-riding theme games on mobile, and another we recommend is Equestriad by GoGallop Studios. Here, you enter plenty of competitions and live the life of a competitive rider in dressage, cross country, and showjumping contests.
This game even has officially licensed trial events like the Adelaide and Kentucky horse trials for you to take part in. When you’re not competing, you can work towards enhancing your horse’s skills through training. Of course, you can also personalize your clothing and equipment, and find different horse breeds to work with.
Star Stable – mobile
With fifteen breeds of fine foals on offer in Star Stable, there are few better ways to experience running your own horse farm without having to carry the muck away yourself.
This free-to-play sim is a great way to introduce younger audiences to the world of horses before making the leap into the saddle. Better still, you can pick up some in-game freebies with our list of Star Stable codes.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Switch
There are two primary ways of getting yourself around the massive map of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. If you start your journey from a high point, you can float across the land with ease, but if you’re starting from the ground, then you’re going to need your trusty horse.
With Red Dead Redemption 2 presumably never coming to Switch, this is the closest you’re going to get to exploring a new frontier on horseback, and the final boss level demands horse riding, so it deserves to make the list. Make sure you check out our Breath of the Wild review for more of our thoughts.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Switch
Link’s back, and guess what? Horses are too! Explore Hyrule on horseback as you’ve never seen it before in Tears of the Kingdom. Sure, your horse can’t fly up to the sky islands, but in terms of getting around Hyrule on the ground, there’s no better way than riding a horse. As with BotW, there are some special horses to look out for too, so many in fact that you can feel like you’re own stable owner! So, if you’re looking for adventure on our list of the best horse games, look neigh further.
To find out where you’re headed on your horse, check out our guides for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gleeoks, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom shrines, and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom depths, then head on over to our Tears of the Kingdom review for even more of our thoughts.
Stardew Valley – Switch and mobile
Any list I can include Stardew Valley in I will, and guess what? You can get a horse in Stardew Valley. If you haven’t played Stardew by now, I really don’t know what I could say to convince you, but the horse only arrived as part of a post-launch content update, so if you haven’t returned to Pelican Town in a while it might be worth the trip for your new four-legged friend. The horse can also wear hats, so, do you really need any more convincing?
If you do happen to jump into a new life of farming, be sure to check out our Stardew Valley fish and Stardew Valley co-op. Or if you’re not quite sold, take a look at our 10/10 Stardew Valley review.
Rival Stars Horse Racing – mobile
If you’re more into horse racing than show jumps or dressage, Rival Stars Horse Racing is the most comprehensive fastest filly-first simulator on mobile. With surprisingly crisp graphics for the limitations of mobile hardware, this life sim meets racer has a selection of beautiful racecourses for you to fly across with your preferred stallion.
When not racing, you can manage and improve your scenic ranch, and live the lavish life of a horse breeder. It’s more lavish than it sounds, honestly.
Horse Club Adventures – Switch
Want to be a happy horse rider? Take yourself down to Lakeside Riding Stable with Hannah, Sarah, Lisa, and Sofia, and get riding, brushing, and scooping in Horse Club Adventures.
Admittedly, this one is more suited to younger audiences still trying to get to grips with equestrianism, but the game serves as a perfect introduction to many concepts that new riders need to get their head around before jumping into the saddle.
ACA NeoGeo Stakes Winner 2 – Switch
If you’re looking to roll back the years with an arcade horse racing title, ACA NeoGeo Stakes Winner 2 is a classic that it’s hard to say neigh to. Despite only including twelve different horses to ride, this retro experience dials down the horse racing experience to make it both easy to pick up and surprisingly dynamic for a title of its age.
If you’ve got a horse racing fan coming to your next retro gaming night, this is the game for you.
With that, we’ve officially run out of horse games to recommend (at least, until Pippa Funnel: Secrets of the Ranch sees a revival – Tilly still lives in hope). However, if you want to swap out the filly for a fast motor, we can point you in the direction of the best mobile racing games and the best Switch racing games to test your inner speedometer.