All pages that have to do with Horses Forever should say "This is not real. It is part of a SIM club." (or something to that effect) at the top. Someone may stumble upon your page and think it's for a real equestrian establishment!

If you ever quit HF, e-mail the President with your name, e-mail address you joined with, and the URLs of anything you own so the links can be taken off the web site. Also, inform the same person if you change your e-mail address or change web page links.

You are allowed to be in other SIM horse clubs, but remember to keep your records for HF and other clubs separate. Don't buy anything from other clubs for use in HF or sell anything to other clubs for use outside of HF. Horses bought from other clubs will count as made up if you try to register them and equipment or feed from other clubs ceases to exist in HF. Therefore buying tack from another club won't carry over as tack for your HF horses.

Please do not link to other SIM games or sites that deal with other SIM games. I shouldn't have to state that, but just in case.

Keep track of your money. For example, write "bought 1 saddle for $110 from the tack shop" and subtract it from your total in a file that you track your expenses and income in.

While misfortunes aren't mandatory, solving them can be a very exciting and interesting part of HF as they teach you about equine health and how to handle problems. Many members turn their misfortunes into short stories and post them for everyone to read.

Keep a list of all your horses' information in a notebook or computer file. Give your horses personalities and a life of their own. For example, say you have one named Moonlight. Next to his information, write "very spirited and willing to please". Many members of HF like to borrow pictures of horses off of the Internet, and that is highly recommended.

Important!

However, pictures are copyrighted both by the photographer who took the picture and the owner who purchased it. Many people do not want their potential clients who see the horse to come up as a SIM horse in a search. They also don't like it when things are used without their permission. Many owners are happy to let you use their horse's pictures, because it shows you have respect for that horse and you think highly of it.

Copyright is the little (c) symbol. It's used to protect images, text, names, and other things from being unlawfully used. "Copy"-meaning to duplicate, make the same, imitate. "Right", meaning acting or judging in accordance with fact. So essentially, if it has a copyright symbol on it, signature, or basically if it exists, you shouldn't take it without permission from the owner of the image, text, name, slogan, etc. This also means you could actually be prosecuted or even sued if you use some pictures without permission. Not to mention it could also get Horses Forever in quite a bit of trouble. Reading this article is probably a good idea if you are still confused.

Another major problem is what is called hotlinking. This is when you may or may not ask for permission for the picture, but use its original URL-such as this example address: www.arabianhorsefarm.com/ArabStallion.jpg rather than asking permission, then uploading that picture to your OWN website. This is another thing that could get Horses Forever in a lot of trouble-not to mention that it costs the owners of the site money, because you are taking what is called their bandwidth.

Bottom line-ask for permission. Should you get Horses Forever in trouble for copyright violation-even though you have read this-you could be suspended or expelled from the game. It is very wrong, legally and morally. Not only this but you could get HF and other SIM games shut down, and also give the SIM world a bad name. It is considered stealing-so take that five minutes it takes to find the pictures owner and email them to ask permission.

Stable owners should draw a layout of their stable, either on paper or on the computer (if you draw it on your computer, you can add it to your stable page). You may even want to assign stalls. Make a big rectangle, put little rectangles in it, and write a horse's name in each one. This is not a rule, just a suggestion.

Remember that even though this is SIM, reality is a factor. Research your facts before you announce them, sell your horses and set stud fees at realistic prices (i.e. a Mustang wouldn't sell for more than $5,000, while a Thoroughbred could sell for up to $5,000,000), and realize that you only have so much money. Just as in real life, you can go bankrupt and lose everything if you don't spend wisely.

New members must post on the HF Message Board an intoduction about themselves, their new horses, their questions, or whatever, so that other members know they exist. New members must be active for two weeks before they are added to the HF member list. This gives the member a chance to prove that they are serious about HF and want to become an active member.

If we do not hear from a member for three to four weeks, then they will be considered inactive. Their horses will be confiscated by The Committee. *Note* If your computer crashes or you cannot access HF for some reason, there are many ways to get online. Try your local school, library, neighbor or best friend to at least notify HF that you will not be active and why. If you go on vacation, you must post on the HF Message Board to let other members know.

If a member has quit, become inactive, or their horses have been confiscated for some reason, the member who sold them that horse originally has the first adoption rights to those horses. You must contact The Committee though, if you find a horse there that was originally yours.