The Sims 4 is finally getting the horse expansion players have been begging for

Listings for a “Sims 4 Horse Ranch” expansion appeared on key reseller sites earlier this month, but it was hard to take the supposed leaks very seriously, especially since they borrowed an image of a guy riding a horse from The Sims 3 Pets. Today, however, EA itself finally confirmed that horses are coming to The Sims this year—albeit without saying so directly.

The official Sims account said on Twitter today that we’ll “take the reins” during the next Sims 4 season, which will include a “rootin’ tootin’ expansion.” The teaser’s imagery doesn’t contain any horses, but does appear to confirm a rumor that the next expansion takes place in a desert-themed world. EA also knows that Sims fans/horse people would riot if it teased “reins” and then didn’t put out a horse expansion, so I think we can call this one without waiting for the full trailer releasing later this week: Horses incoming.

Horses last appeared in the series all the way back in The Sims 3’s 2011 Pets expansion. Instead of a general pets expansion, The Sims 4 got 2017’s Cats & Dogs, which featured no horses except perhaps for a few cats or dogs named “horse” by dejected players. (Also, raccoons for some reason.) There were no horses in the 12 other Sims 4 expansions, either, despite pleas from fans.

In explaining why 2021’s Cottage Living expansion was horseless, Sims 4 producer Antonio Romeo said on Twitter that “making horses with the quality and depth of gameplay they deserve is a substantial undertaking.” It was hard not to take that as soft confirmation that a horse-focused expansion was at least being kicked around, and players have been hunting for horse clues ever since. Fan site Sims Community points out, for instance, that the most recent expansion, Growing Together, features more horse imagery than you might expect from chance art decisions.

EA’s teaser didn’t say what the expansion will be called, but we’ll have the details this Thursday at 10 am Pacific when an overview of the next season debuts on YouTube. “Giddy up for good news,” reads the video’s description, if there were still any doubt about the expansion’s subject.

The season will run through September, so the horse expansion can be expected sometime this summer.

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