How do I check to see if my array includes an object?

Arrays in Ruby don't have exists? method, but they have an include? method as described in the docs. Something like

unless @suggested_horses.include?(horse)
   @suggested_horses << horse
end

should work out of box.

If you want to check if an object is within in array by checking an attribute on the object, you can use any? and pass a block that evaluates to true or false:

unless @suggested_horses.any? {|h| h.id == horse.id }
  @suggested_horses << horse
end

#include? should work, it works for general objects, not only strings. Your problem in example code is this test:

unless @suggested_horses.exists?(horse.id)
  @suggested_horses<< horse
end

(even assuming using #include?). You try to search for specific object, not for id. So it should be like this:

unless @suggested_horses.include?(horse)
  @suggested_horses << horse
end

ActiveRecord has redefined comparision operator for objects to take a look only for its state (new/created) and id