The best horse riding video games

Whilst there are few things better than riding a horse, we have to give the animals a rest every now and then. But that doesn’t mean that you have to miss out of the racing fun, as there are plenty of riding simulations and even some slots games that can get you a little closer to our equine friends!

A surprising amount of video games feature an element of horse riding as a core part of their action. One of the most horse-centric video games of recent times was the wildly successful Red Dead Redemption.

This Wild West-themed game was released in 2010 by Rockstar Games and it saw gamers putting in hundreds of hours of riding action. Not only did you spend a large amount of the game upon your trusty steed, but you also had to tame the wild beast to make it rideable. And with a sequel due in 2017, we can expect to see plenty more action-packed equine escapades!

If that’s a little too violent for your tastes, then there’s been plenty of games that look to emulate the excitement of horse racing on our screens. Titles likes 2011’s Champion Jockey for the Xbox, PlayStation and Wii allowed gamers to play the part of a jockey in driving their horse to jump fences and race to victory on impressive recreations of famous racecourses like Ascot, Cheltenham and Epsom.

The one thing that was lacking from this game was the all-important aspect of betting that’s synonymous with horse racing. But seeing as LadyLucks allow you to take a gamble on their equine-inspired Fire Horse slots game, it shows that there are few areas of the gaming world where horses don’t make an appearance.

And it’s not just the horsey slots games that are becoming big hits on smartphones, as the wildly successful My Horse mobile game has shown that even grooming your horse can become a gaming activity.

This cute game for iOS and Android devices allows you to build a bond with your digital horse as you feed, groom and train it before taking it out to compete in the World Championships. And with some great social features that allow friends to visit your stables, it shows just how far horse racing gaming has come since Final Furlong!

So whether you want to ride a steed in the Wild West, train a champion horse, or just want to hit the slots, there’s plenty of horse-related fun to be had in the gaming world!