What would y'alls dream (3D) horse sim look like?

[Cypress Creek Elites]

I know that one of the main reasons I keep wanting to find new games is that there's nothing out there- yet- that's my dream horse sim.
HWO doesn't really compare to anything that would be in this category. I'm talking about more interactive ride-the-horse sims, not breeding browser games- I love HWO. This has nothing to do with that. I am absolutely not hating on, or offering suggestions of changes to, HWO. To make it abundantly clear.

My personal dream game is something of an amalgamation of Dog Sled Saga, Horse Isle 3, HWO and My Horse. With a touch of Rein Ravine (which I haven't played because it's not out for Mac, but I really want to) and Equestriad.
I think my dream game would be predominantly single-player, with some noncompetitive online stuff, and heavy on the realism, without being a really grind-y caretaking game.
I want a "tutorial" that is the player learning to ride, and then the later game be about the player acquiring green horses- either wild/feral horses, auction rescues (that might have greater struggles learning things) or foals from breeders. I'm not sure whether I would want there to be a breeding mechanic. I know I definitely wouldn't want a breeding mechanic that makes the other ways of getting horses obsolete.
I would like a very in-depth training system- My Horse meets HWO, but on steroids. The player gets to choose what they want to work on in a session, and based on how well they direct the horse to do the thing they're trying to get it to do, the horse might make some improvement or (if it goes exceptionally badly) lose some progress. If it goes badly multiple times before the player gets it right, the breakthrough should be worth more. The horse might get scared or confused during the session and it might need to be ended early- sessions would take time out of the "day", so only a few horses could be trained at a time.
Once the horses reach a point where they're "finished", the player would decide to keep or sell them. Selling would mean that the horse would go to a NPC, and either replace a preexisting NPC horse or be deleted from the game- so sometimes you'd run into your horses or foals of your horses in sales or competition!
I think I would want a (comparatively) small, HI3-style free riding area for players to explore (to desensitize or calm down horses and kill extra time, or just for fun). I would also like players to be able to set up their own courses on their free riding area, which they could invite friends to compete on.
Once the horse and rider get to a certain point, they would be able to join in-game competitions (probably against NPCs). This is where the DSS aspect comes in. Competitions would happen maybe once or twice per in-game month, and horses would get fatigued from competing (and if they did particularly badly, might need a refresher on training).
Similarly to DSS, horses would start at the very beginner level of whatever discipline they were in, and slowly work up to higher levels by winning (yearly?) qualifiers. Depending on the conformation and age of the horse (and the discipline it's in) it might peak at a certain level, and be unable to go any higher safely. Depending on whether such a thing would work with multiplayer, the highest level could involve (real-time) weekly tournaments- though the horse could also still compete in slightly lower level game-time NPC competitions.
Performance would also be affected with how sensitive/experienced your horse is to competing, footing, and their current mood- a horse that's jittery and on unfamiliar footing would be more likely to rush, trip, spook etc and would generally run a little hotter than a horse that's calm and sure of itself.
I totally haven't put a ton of thought into this, or anything. It's a shame I don't have the capabilities to create such a thing myself.

What would y'all want in your dream 3D horse sim?

[BlackOak2]

Something like a smash-up of GI Jockey, Gallop Racer and HWO, but, of course, with many, many more disciplines and breeds available.

I'm much more of a lone-style player and not having to need a pc being up-to-par goes a long way into not having to worry about 'is my system capable?' So console is usually my first choice.

It'd also be nice to ride around in a style of sandbox and be able to explore. So, it'd have to be an immersive world that has a number of different jobs available, all of them based around horses. Things like blacksmithing and leatherwork, building carts and carriages (I think there's a specific word for that) and so on. So, an RPG sandbox world.
But, because I've played at least one game that's kind of like that, I found that not having any combat-interaction in such a game just felt missing. So, I'd have to add the option of entering certain wild areas that do have combat-interaction with NPC animals or such.

I'm not a fan of one-on-one without advance request, so though I have no problem with such a thing, it would have to be 'upon permission by both sides only'.

[Cypress Creek Elites]

Something like a smash-up of GI Jockey, Gallop Racer and HWO, but, of course, with many, many more disciplines and breeds available.

I'm much more of a lone-style player and not having to need a pc being up-to-par goes a long way into not having to worry about 'is my system capable?' So console is usually my first choice.

It'd also be nice to ride around in a style of sandbox and be able to explore. So, it'd have to be an immersive world that has a number of different jobs available, all of them based around horses. Things like blacksmithing and leatherwork, building carts and carriages (I think there's a specific word for that) and so on. So, an RPG sandbox world.
But, because I've played at least one game that's kind of like that, I found that not having any combat-interaction in such a game just felt missing. So, I'd have to add the option of entering certain wild areas that do have combat-interaction with NPC animals or such.

I'm not a fan of one-on-one without advance request, so though I have no problem with such a thing, it would have to be 'upon permission by both sides only'.

Oh that's interesting! What game, might I ask?

[BlackOak2]

Something like a smash-up of GI Jockey, Gallop Racer and HWO, but, of course, with many, many more disciplines and breeds available.

I'm much more of a lone-style player and not having to need a pc being up-to-par goes a long way into not having to worry about 'is my system capable?' So console is usually my first choice.

It'd also be nice to ride around in a style of sandbox and be able to explore. So, it'd have to be an immersive world that has a number of different jobs available, all of them based around horses. Things like blacksmithing and leatherwork, building carts and carriages (I think there's a specific word for that) and so on. So, an RPG sandbox world.
But, because I've played at least one game that's kind of like that, I found that not having any combat-interaction in such a game just felt missing. So, I'd have to add the option of entering certain wild areas that do have combat-interaction with NPC animals or such.

I'm not a fan of one-on-one without advance request, so though I have no problem with such a thing, it would have to be 'upon permission by both sides only'.

Oh that's interesting! What game, might I ask?

The sandbox world was Horse Isle. But I kind of imagine it'd look more like Rift or WoW or something more along those lines. Just a true sandbox style with all sorts of random things happening, including quests and general interactions in the world. I know Horse Isle had a bit of those, but without certain things, such a game hovers between that not-quite-peaceful, calm style of game and not-quite-challenging, non-combative style of game. It... pardon the pun... rode too much of a line without favoring either side enough.
And, Horse Isle was made in a nice style, but it had it's other issues too. The graphics were fine, but compared to the RPG's I had played in the past, it was simply lacking in that department. Plus, too many horses or animals or people in one area and lag became horrible. Not all of that was on my end. With no way to turn some of these more irritating things off, I think such a thing is an oversight on the developers' part. But those weren't necessarily the things that encouraged me to stop playing. They were just the icing on the inedible cake.

[terrasunshine]

This one is a fun one. I've personally played a lot of different "horse" games over my life and I'll tell you they're getting (slightly) better.

As for an open-world game, honestly? My best recommendation would be a Red Dead Redemption 2-esque game, where you have your nice-looking character and beautiful horse models, a gorgeous world to explore and make friends in, with the added benefits of English or Western-style disciplines, genetic breeding, and the like.

RDR2 is IMO unmatched in realistic horse behaviors while ON the horse but obviously that's a mature game for adults that doesn't have a story focused on horses.

I really enjoy HWO in particular for the breeding aspect, I like being able to fly through turns at my own pace. There's another website I tried that was INCREDIBLY realistic but you had to wait a full real-world day to do anything and you could not do more than a few things that the horses could handle in one day (which added to the realism but maybe not the fun! ) so I abandoned that in favor of HWO.

Mostly I'd just like the updates that have supposedly been in the works for a long time for this game to continue to make it better.

[Jane SR]

Ok

[Horsechronicles12]

I know that one of the main reasons I keep wanting to find new games is that there's nothing out there- yet- that's my dream horse sim.
HWO doesn't really compare to anything that would be in this category. I'm talking about more interactive ride-the-horse sims, not breeding browser games- I love HWO. This has nothing to do with that. I am absolutely not hating on, or offering suggestions of changes to, HWO. To make it abundantly clear.

My personal dream game is something of an amalgamation of Dog Sled Saga, Horse Isle 3, HWO and My Horse. With a touch of Rein Ravine (which I haven't played because it's not out for Mac, but I really want to) and Equestriad.
I think my dream game would be predominantly single-player, with some noncompetitive online stuff, and heavy on the realism, without being a really grind-y caretaking game.
I want a "tutorial" that is the player learning to ride, and then the later game be about the player acquiring green horses- either wild/feral horses, auction rescues (that might have greater struggles learning things) or foals from breeders. I'm not sure whether I would want there to be a breeding mechanic. I know I definitely wouldn't want a breeding mechanic that makes the other ways of getting horses obsolete.
I would like a very in-depth training system- My Horse meets HWO, but on steroids. The player gets to choose what they want to work on in a session, and based on how well they direct the horse to do the thing they're trying to get it to do, the horse might make some improvement or (if it goes exceptionally badly) lose some progress. If it goes badly multiple times before the player gets it right, the breakthrough should be worth more. The horse might get scared or confused during the session and it might need to be ended early- sessions would take time out of the "day", so only a few horses could be trained at a time.
Once the horses reach a point where they're "finished", the player would decide to keep or sell them. Selling would mean that the horse would go to a NPC, and either replace a preexisting NPC horse or be deleted from the game- so sometimes you'd run into your horses or foals of your horses in sales or competition!
I think I would want a (comparatively) small, HI3-style free riding area for players to explore (to desensitize or calm down horses and kill extra time, or just for fun). I would also like players to be able to set up their own courses on their free riding area, which they could invite friends to compete on.
Once the horse and rider get to a certain point, they would be able to join in-game competitions (probably against NPCs). This is where the DSS aspect comes in. Competitions would happen maybe once or twice per in-game month, and horses would get fatigued from competing (and if they did particularly badly, might need a refresher on training).
Similarly to DSS, horses would start at the very beginner level of whatever discipline they were in, and slowly work up to higher levels by winning (yearly?) qualifiers. Depending on the conformation and age of the horse (and the discipline it's in) it might peak at a certain level, and be unable to go any higher safely. Depending on whether such a thing would work with multiplayer, the highest level could involve (real-time) weekly tournaments- though the horse could also still compete in slightly lower level game-time NPC competitions.
Performance would also be affected with how sensitive/experienced your horse is to competing, footing, and their current mood- a horse that's jittery and on unfamiliar footing would be more likely to rush, trip, spook etc and would generally run a little hotter than a horse that's calm and sure of itself.
I totally haven't put a ton of thought into this, or anything. It's a shame I don't have the capabilities to create such a thing myself.

What would y'all want in your dream 3D horse sim?

Mine would be:
Light Dun mare with a back mane with a white shade to it, a white diamond on her head with blue eyes. That or a brown and white paint mare with blue eyes and a white mane and black tail with those face markings that cause them to be sensitive to light.

[PoliteFroggy]

I would love something with amazing breeding like HWO, opportunities to design your ranch that you could actually ride your horses around, still staying decently true to every breed's talents and drawbacks, being able to actually ride your horses through all different disciplines... of course, not a pay to win game

I would love to have training horses really have an aspect of teaching it to tolerate tack, a rider, and spooks. Also having it affect the feel of riding it. I'd love to also have the rider need to learn things!

A lot of the things I would want are probably crazy hard to code in, but the amount of exertion on previous days affecting your horse's performance would also be super cool! Fun trail rides to improve your relationships with the horse... so many ideas! That explanation was all over the place, sorry

[Diamond Filly]

I would love something with amazing breeding like HWO, opportunities to design your ranch that you could actually ride your horses around, still staying decently true to every breed's talents and drawbacks, being able to actually ride your horses through all different disciplines... of course, not a pay to win game

I would love to have training horses really have an aspect of teaching it to tolerate tack, a rider, and spooks. Also having it affect the feel of riding it. I'd love to also have the rider need to learn things!

A lot of the things I would want are probably crazy hard to code in, but the amount of exertion on previous days affecting your horse's performance would also be super cool! Fun trail rides to improve your relationships with the horse... so many ideas! That explanation was all over the place, sorry

Mental telepathy here ... that's EXACTLY what I think! Totally agree!

[PoliteFroggy]

Glad someone understood!

I would love something with amazing breeding like HWO, opportunities to design your ranch that you could actually ride your horses around, still staying decently true to every breed's talents and drawbacks, being able to actually ride your horses through all different disciplines... of course, not a pay to win game

I would love to have training horses really have an aspect of teaching it to tolerate tack, a rider, and spooks. Also having it affect the feel of riding it. I'd love to also have the rider need to learn things!

A lot of the things I would want are probably crazy hard to code in, but the amount of exertion on previous days affecting your horse's performance would also be super cool! Fun trail rides to improve your relationships with the horse... so many ideas! That explanation was all over the place, sorry

Mental telepathy here ... that's EXACTLY what I think! Totally agree!