Equinologist

Welcome

Hello Equinologist, and welcome to Wikipedia! We're really glad you've chosen to sign up for an account; it offers numerous benefits in case you weren't already aware of them.

Thankyou for your contributions if you've been editing before you got this message. If you haven't, don't worry: there are numerous ways you can contribute to Wikipedia if you're not sure where to start yet. Either way, we hope you'll like the place and decide to stay. We all remember what it's like to be new, so don't let others scare you off.

Useful links

Here's some useful links that will help you get started.

•   Wikipedia:How to edit a page - it's a lot easier than you might think.

•   Tutorial - a collection of pages explaining the most important things for contributing to Wikipedia.

•   Sandbox - the best place for trying things out. If previous edits you made to articles have been reverted because they were experimental or unconstructive, this is the place to make test edits.

•   Wikipedia:Where to ask a question - Wikipedia has numerous places for you to put your questions and comments forward.

•   Wikipedia:Five pillars - Wikipedia's official policies and guidelines are summarized here.

•   Wikipedia:Manual of Style - our style guide outlines our standards for ensuring that we present information in a consistent manner that promotes cohesion and professionalism.

Contributing

With these references at hand, we hope you find it easier to contribute to Wikipedia. Here's a brief synopsis of some ways you can:

• We obviously wouldn't have an encyclopedia without articles. This page shows how you can help them grow.

• Removing vandalism and keeping the integrity of articles intact is a great way of contributing. More information on how to do so can be found here.

• Fixing typos, correcting poor grammar and repairing broken links are just some examples of useful, behind the scenes contributions. Even just making things look nice makes using Wikipedia more pleasant for everybody.

• If you like working with images, you might be interested in the Graphic Lab. Similarly, this page shows you how to work with images in Wikipedia articles.

• This page lists the many types of tasks you can do to maintain Wikipedia.

• There are numerous WikiProjects that aim to provide coordination and collaboration on particular subjects. From this list, you can join a project and contribute within an area that interests you.

Of course, there are many ways of contributing, but I hope that this message is helpful to you, and that you'll enjoy editing Wikipedia and continue to do so. You can respond to this message by clicking here if you have a comment or need help - don't forget to sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~), or you can place {{helpme}} on your talk page and write your query there. Again, welcome to Wikipedia! WilliamH (talk) 18:05, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Howdy, welcome, and thanks on the Hackney stuff

Hi, See you have done some nice edits to the Hackney pony article, and added some good photos. Are those images yours and free licensed? I ask because the wikigods get very fussy about copyright stuff and are quick to toss things with improper ownership...sigh...and I hope these can stay!

Anyway, I am one of the more active editors in Wikipedia:WikiProject Equine and tend to troll through new articles, adding wikilinks, wordsmithing, and generally trying to improve the encyclopedic nature of things. There are something like over 1000 horse articles in wikipedia and the wikilinks are not always obvious. Plus if you are new, there are other little minefields out there (like adding articles to categories, adding project tags, etc., etc...) However, I hope you will spot some of the things we do and that you will also feel free to give myself or the other editors a shout if you need help.

But beware: (LOL) When it comes to messing with other people's edits, I kind of dive in first, ask forgiveness later, can be merciless, harsh and even snarky some days, but it's mostly bark -- I'm really not an Evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet. However, you are free to give me the occasional Whacking with a Wet Trout if my snarkiness level is getting excessive. A couple people here actually think I'm evil, but I'm just opinionated and prone to be a bit confrontational (got a day job where that's an asset) -- but as long as you provide really good sources and fight fair, we shall get along wonderfully, and you may even win on occasion! (smile)

If I'm too mean, go ask the other fine people at WikiProject Equine for help. There's a good bunch there!

If you'd like a project, we could use some folks who know driving to do a look-over of some of the various harness articles. We have a couple of people who are into draft horses who have made some valuable contributions, but are a bit light on the fine harness and show stuff. (I've been doing editing in some areas, but my horse driving experience is very limited compared to my riding experience, so I am hesitant to delve too deep) Anyway, if it sounds like fun, take a look at driving (horse), pleasure driving, fine harness, horse harness and others that you may see. Feel free to either make comments on the talk page (for drastic changes of existing material) or Be Bold and make any improvements that you can.

Anyway, welcome, thank you, and good luck! Montanabw^(talk) 04:27, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Image:Free Willy Hackney Road Pony.jpg, Image:The Remington Hackney Harness Pony.jpg, Image:Hackney Road Pony Under Saddle Lawrenceburg.jpg, Image:Hackney Cobtail Pony Showing.jpg

Did you make these photos? If yes please write this on the description page. Kersti Nebelsiek (talk) 22:55, 27 September 2008 (UTC)