By registering to use the Ultimate Dressage site (aka 'UDBB'), you agree to abide by these Rules & Policies and be held to the decisions made by the Site Administrator & Moderators. The UDBB reserves the right to modify these Rules & Policies at its sole discretion, and by using this site, you agree to be bound by the modifications or updates to the Rules & Policies without notice.

1st Amendment Right of The Ultimate Dressage BB

Ultimate Dressage is guaranteed the freedom of speech under the 1st Amendment on this site. Therefore, the right to publish any information on this site rests solely with Ultimate Dressage and its webmaster Ultimate Creative Media and content may be deleted by the Site Administrator without notice or explanation. This right does not transfer automatically to it's sponsors, advertisers or registered users.

You have the right to stand on a soap box and speak your mind, but you must be willing to provide your own soapbox. Ultimate Dressage is not required to provide one for you. "Free Speech" on these forums is allowed under the UDBB's 1st amendment rights not the visitor's 1st amendment rights as this a private owned entity not a government establishment.

While the administrators and moderators of this forum will attempt to remove or edit any generally objectionable material as quickly as possible, it is impossible to review every message. Therefore you acknowledge that all posts made to this site express the views and opinions of the author and not the administrators, moderators or webmaster (except for posts by these people) and hence will not be held liable.

Registration Policy

Anyone wishing to participate on our forums must register for a username and have a working email address for confirmation. Only one registered username is allowed per individual participant on the site. Use of offensive names will not be accepted. e-mail accounts that become inactive or inoperative will result in the removal of the registered user's name. The Site Administrator will not make any attempt to contact the registered user in this matter, therefore it is the responsibility of the registered user to maintain a valid e-mail address.

Our policies do not allow the use of 'free email accounts' to be used in registration on our site. Also be aware that any fee based email provider that also offer a free email option will have ALL emails offered banned. There is no way to differentiate between a free and paid account generally. In short use your Internet Service Provider (ISP) e-mail . Periodical checks of new members are conducted and any registrations using free email accounts found to get past our filters will be deleted upon finding.

AOL USERS: Recently AOL decided to start giving out FREE email accounts and thus is no longer permitted to be used. In order to register for our site you will need to send us your account information (keyword: account info) through our contact form and we will manually register your username.

Personal Data Collected

The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these Rules & Policies. You agree that the webmaster, administrator and moderators of this forum have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should they see fit. As a user you agree to any information you have entered above being stored in a database. While this information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent the webmaster, administrator and moderators cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised.

This forum system uses cookies to store information on your local computer. These cookies do not contain any of the information you have entered above; they serve only to improve your viewing pleasure. The e-mail address is used only for confirming your registration details and password (and for sending new passwords should you forget your current one).

General House Keeping

The UDBB is setup with several different forums based on certain topics we face in our pursuit of dressage. Before posting your topics look to make sure you are in the correct forum. This is to ensure that the appropriate audience and experts in the field respond to your discussions. Also, before you post a new topic try a search of that topic in the different forums to see what might have already been brought up. You can save yourself tons of time by doing this when you need the answer fast.

If by chance you post in the wrong forum, a Site Administrator or Moderator will MOVE the topic to the appropriate forum. However there will be no link left behind telling you so. You'll have to try a search of other forums to find the topic. And by all means do not post "Where did my post go" that will just get deleted. Please be courteous in keeping our site organized, that's all we are asking for.

Specific Rules of Participation

Unacceptable Behavior : You agree, when registering to participate on The UDBB, that you will not use the forums to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violating of any law.

Heated Discussion vs Personal Flaming : Remember you are posting in a public forum with over 10,000+ registered participants and untold numbers lurking, so there is a chance someone is going to disagree with you at some point. A heated discussion can be a very good source of knowledge and insight. Just don't let it turn into a 'tack room brawl' forum - remember, address the issue being discussed, not the person. If you feel your response warrants your "donning of a flame suit", then you are most likely involved in a discussion that you shouldn't be. Agree to disagree about the issue and move on.

Discussion of Professionals and Individuals : The UDBB is not a place for posting questionable information about the professionals or individuals in our sport. Often professionals learn of the internet bulletin board systems because of something offensive or off color that was posted. There is a huge opportunity being destroyed by irresponsible individuals who want to post hearsay, rumors, and plain old lies. This is not The National Equestrian web site. Therefore in order to preserve this opportunity we will stick to issues of the sport and NOT the people of the sport except under the following provisions:

• Referrals: If you need feedback on a specific professional, you must provide an email for people to respond to you in private.
• Clinic Reviews: Since clinics are a public service and should be open to discussion like any product, a review of a publicly held clinic is allowed. The review MUST NOT turn into a character judgment of the professional or the participants. Only the training theories and applications observed are subject to discussion .
• Public Statements & Observations : The public figures of our sport are not completely immune from criticism or discussion. Public statements made in publications like Dressage Today, are intended for public view and are therefore open to discussion. Public performances are also intended for public observation, and therefore open to discussion..but stick to the issues. Statements & Observations obtained while in a private setting just will not be allowed.

Copyrighted Material : You agree NOT to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you. The ability to post pictures in topics has been disable due to massive abuse in the past. A link to an image hosted elsewhere, however is not a copyright violation.

Private/Chatty Messages : Please avoid posting personal messages in the forums in an attempt to find someone specific, ask your question and if the person chooses to answer your question they will, otherwise try to contact the person directly through ICQ or e-mail if this information is published. The "Observation Lounge" is a forum where you can post more Chatty non-horse related messages.

Multiple Postings : Do not post your message more than once in a specific forum or in more than one forum, or a message in another forum telling someone to "go look" into another forum. These double messages will be deleted by the Site Administrator automatically.

No Advertising in the Forums : The discussion forums are not to be used for advertising purposes as they are for discussion purposes only. We encourage all professionals and service/product providers to participate in our discussions, however not for the purpose of promoting their product or services. We do provide Advertising Opportunities through our Subscription Based CLASSIFIEDS or our BANNER Advertising program. Specific Examples Not Allowed: an item for sale (regardless of price), a calendar event, a product or service you provide, your e-bay auctions, stallion auctions, raffles, fund raising campaigns.

Report Objectionable Content : Any visitor who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact the Site Operator immediately by email.  The forums moderator has the ability to remove objectionable messages and The UDBB will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary.  This is a manual process, however, so please realize that we may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately.

Administrator/Moderator Directives : You are obligated to follow the instructions of a forum moderator or the Site Administrator when addressing the rules on the forums whether you agree with the decisions or not. The Site Administrator's decision is final in all matters.

Disciplinary Actions

Failure to adhere to any of The UDBB site Rules & Policies will follow the steps below;

• A verbal warning: will usually be offered first by e-mail
• A public warning: will be issued on the BB if you persist
• Personal Banning: will be issued for doubly persistent failure to follow rules and your username privileges will be suspended anywhere from one day to permanent banning from posting notes on The UDBB site.

Further offenses (including attempts to post under a new username) will lead to us reporting your activities to your system administrator - whether this be your ISP or your employer. The Ultimate Dressage BB site also reserves the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.

By clicking Register below you agree to be bound by these conditions.