Horse Games for Playstation 3
The Playstation 3 was a lean time for horse games. If you use another system, be sure to check out games for the Playstation 2, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, wii & Nintendo DS.
The Barbie, Petz and riding school games that filled the shelves for the Playstation 2 never made the jump to its successor. What did arrive was horse racing, nearly all of it from one Japanese publisher, and only two of those games were sold outside Japan. We could not find a single riding, stable care or show jumping game for the console.
If you want to groom a pony, this is the wrong Playstation. If you want to ride a finish at full stretch, it has you covered.
Horse racing games
Champion Jockey: G1 Jockey & Gallop Racer (2011)
Two long-running racing series rolled into one. Ride races from the saddle and build a jockey’s career by training horses, passing riding challenges and entering American and Japanese style events on 19 courses modelled on real tracks. It can be played with a normal controller or with the Playstation Move.
G1 Jockey 4 2008 (2008)
A jockey’s career from the first day. Graduate from jockey school, join a stable, choose your rides and plan each week’s training around the race meetings, then ride the races yourself. Released in Japan and Europe.
Sold only in Japan
These were never translated, but they are part of the console’s story, and collectors do import them.
G1 Jockey 4 2007 (2007)
The first of the jockey series on the Playstation 3. Ride each race from the saddle, with tactics that depend on your horse’s running style.
Winning Post (2007–2017)
Not a riding game but an owner and breeder’s one. Buy or breed Thoroughbreds, run a stud farm, pick trainers and jockeys and campaign your horses from maiden races to the great stakes over decades. Eleven editions came out for the console, from Winning Post 7 Maximum 2007 to Winning Post 8 2017.
Derby Time Online (2008)
An online horse racing game from Sony’s own Japan Studio. Its servers were switched off in June 2009, less than a year after it opened.
Not horse games, but great horses
Some of the best riding on the Playstation 3 is in games that are about something else entirely. These are stories for teenagers and adults rather than children, so check the age rating on the box.
Red Dead Redemption (2010)
A western set across a huge open frontier, where a horse is how you get everywhere. The breeds differ in speed and stamina, and you can break wild horses, buy them or steal them.
Shadow of the Colossus (2011)
Cross an empty, beautiful land on the black horse Agro to find sixteen giants. Sold for the Playstation 3 as part of The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, and Agro is still one of the best loved horses in any game.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)
A vast fantasy world where horses bought from stables outside the towns carry you over the mountains. Fighting from the saddle was added in a later update.