Trail Mail Usage Guidelines

Trail Mail is a community of OET members, and is not filtered or censored in any way, nor has it ever been. All posts to the list come through freely, and as posted. There is no screening of messages for content in any way. Persons whose posts violate the rules for Trail Mail receive private emails explaining why their post was inappropriate.  It is important to use this list respectfully and responsibly. Its primary purpose is to encourage communication and share information. However, we limit the scope of the subjects to those that are of interest to OET members, which would include anything about horses, their health, care, management, and training, as well as about trail riding, packing, camping, etc., and the work that we undertake.

Our moderators admit new members, manage the database and list site, and will contact anyone whose post(s) violate the rules with a Formal Warning Letter when necessary.

Try to keep the following rules in mind when you contribute to this list:

• Attachments — You can now include attachments with your posts, this changed when moving Trail Mail from Yahoo to Google Groups. Also files and photos can be viewed or uploaded to the OET Trail Mail Shared folder using your Google account and the Google Drive App. To view past email messages use this web link while logged into your account: (https://groups.google.com/a/oregonequestriantrails.org/forum/#!forum/trailmail) Contact the Web Administrator by email at web@oregonequestriantrails.org if you need help with uploading files or pictures.
• No “forwarded” messages — Do not pass along any emails, regardless of the topic. If there is information contained in a message you have received that you believe to be truly important and on topic, please only copy and paste the pertinent portion or simply use your own words to convey the message.
• No “personal” conversations — Remember that when you hit “Reply” to answer a message, you are replying to the author of the message. You must hit “Reply All” to send your reply to the entire list. Many discussions are quite suitable for the group, but if your conversation goes beyond two emails, that should go to private email, and off Trail Mail.
• No “Flaming” —  In Internet jargon this simply means keep it civil. Disagreements are to be expected in any lively exchange of ideas. All list members are expected to be respectful of others at all times. E-mail is very impersonal and is easily misconstrued. Members are encouraged to be careful of their wording and even re-read their messages before hitting that “send” button, but it is also important to develop a bit of tolerance and give the benefit of the doubt to the author whenever possible. And remember, there comes a point where you just have to agree to disagree and let it go.
• No commercial solicitations, get-rich-quick schemes, or chain letters.
• Names on the list are confidential and may not be distributed, copied, or sold to others or used for non-OET purposes.
• Report problems to the moderator at listmanager@oregonequestriantrails.org, and we’ll try to get you squared away.
• It is a violation of list policy to submit material that is copyrighted by others, or that may be reasonably construed as subject to copyright, which is illegal. Attributed quotations, as of a book review, may be submitted under the “reasonable use” doctrine of copyright law, under the responsibility of the submitter.
• All submissions become the property of, OET, and become copyrighted. They will be archived, and may be viewed by list members at any time, but may not be copied or used for any use outside of OET without the express written permission of OET and the author of the post.

**If you have items for sale, or info you want to be dispersed, please state this clearly in your post as permission for this use. The moderators will then post a “permission” reply to the list regarding that specific post so that there is no delay in spreading the info.**

• OET, the moderator, the list maintainers, and the Google Groups, are not responsible for the content of the list or for the actions of any list member. List submissions are not edited or filtered. When you send it, it’s published.
• The moderator(s) is the enforcer of Trail Mail Rules. Please refrain from reminding other members of the rules. If you think someone is in violation of the rules with a post, please bring it to the attention of the moderator(s) by sending an email to listmanager@oregonequestriantrails.org .
• Repeatedly ignoring the above rules will result in a warning being sent. Subsequent infractions after a warning have been sent will result in your being asked to leave Trail Mail. You may reapply for access to Trail Mail after 30 days. Infractions after returning to Trail Mail will result in your being banned, which means, no return to Trail Mail at a later date. Discussion of action taken by moderators is not to be discussed on Trail Mail. Formal action taken by a moderator resulting in a member being banned from Trail Mail may be appealed by emailing your reasons for believing the action was taken in error to listmanager@oregonequestriantrails.org . The appeal will be reviewed by the Executive Board. Their decision on the subject is final.