Terms of Use

Equ'un is an online platform that connects stallion owners with mare owners for breeding services, meaning equine reproduction carried out by natural cover or by artificial insemination. For this matching activity, Equ'un acts strictly as a directory and matching service. No financial transaction related to a breeding takes place on the platform: payments for breeding services are settled off the platform, directly between the parties involved.

In addition to this free service, Equ'un offers paid subscriptions (Pro and Elite) that raise certain usage caps and unlock customization options. These subscriptions are sold and charged on the platform through our payment provider, and are governed by the Terms of Sale.

The platform is reserved for people who are at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into contracts. We do not ask for proof of age when you register, but use of the platform by someone who does not meet these conditions is not authorised, and we may close the account concerned if we become aware of it. The platform is aimed at private individuals as well as at equine breeding professionals.

An account is required to publish a listing, exchange messages, or book a breeding. You agree to:

• Provide accurate and complete information when creating your account, and keep it up to date.
• Keep your login credentials confidential and not share them.
• Take responsibility for all activity that occurs under your account.
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account.

When using Equ'un, you agree to:

• Provide accurate and truthful information in your listings and profile.
• Use the platform only for lawful purposes related to equine breeding services.
• Treat other users with respect and professionalism.
• Not misuse the platform for spam, fraud, or any other illegal activity.
• Not scrape, crawl, or use automated means to access the platform or its content.
• Not copy, reproduce, or redistribute content from the platform without authorization.

When you publish a stallion listing or any other content, the following rules apply:

• You retain ownership of the content you publish (photos, videos, descriptions, pedigrees, test results).
• By publishing content, you grant Equ'un a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, display, resize, and promote that content within the platform, solely for the purposes of the service.
• Listings may include photos and, depending on your plan, stallion videos. The photos you upload are automatically re-encoded, which removes the metadata they carry, including the GPS position of the place where they were taken. Videos are converted to a standard web format. Every file uploaded to a listing is scanned for security before being stored.
• You warrant that you hold all necessary rights in the images, videos, and text you publish, and that this content does not infringe any third-party rights.
• You are solely responsible for the accuracy of your listings, including horse information, pricing, and breeding conditions.
• Equ'un reserves the right to remove any listing or content that violates these Terms or applicable law.

Equ'un hosts content uploaded by its users (listings, messages, reviews, attachments). Accordingly:

• Equ'un acts as a host under applicable digital-economy law: we do not review user-uploaded content in advance and are not its author.
• Unlawful, misleading, defamatory, abusive, or infringing content is prohibited, as is any content that harms animal welfare or the rights of third parties.
• Each listing, review, or user can be reported using the built-in reporting tools. Every report is reviewed by our team.
• Following a report or finding, Equ'un may remove content that is manifestly unlawful or contrary to these Terms, and where appropriate suspend the account concerned.
• Our moderation decisions are taken by members of our team after reviewing the reported content. We use no automated system that would remove content on its own. Two automated checks do run beforehand, but they concern the safety of files rather than their meaning: an antivirus scan and a verification of the actual format of uploaded files.
• If we remove content you have published or restrict your account, you can write to us at the address given in article 21 to find out why and to challenge the decision. We will reply setting out the measure taken, its scope and duration, the facts that motivated it, and the basis relied on, whether that is the law or a clause of these Terms.
• You can block another user to stop receiving their messages.

The platform includes a review system that lets a mare owner rate a stallion and its owner after a breeding. The following rules apply:

• Only a user who has actually completed a breeding with the stallion concerned may post a review, within 90 days of the end of the service, and at most one review per stallion.
• Reviews must be sincere, fair, and based on your real experience. Fake reviews, paid reviews, and defamatory or abusive statements are prohibited.
• The stallion owner has a right of public reply to each review concerning them.
• A review may be reported and then removed if it proves unlawful, off-topic, or contrary to these rules. Equ'un does not pay for or alter the content of reviews.
• Published reviews are tied to a breeding that actually took place on the platform, which we check automatically before allowing a review to be posted: there is no way to post a review without having completed a breeding with the stallion concerned. The publication date of each review is displayed. Reviews are shown from the most recent to the oldest, except that your own review appears first when you have posted one. No other criterion affects that order, and no review can be promoted in exchange for payment. A review is refused or removed only for the reasons set out in this article, and its author is informed.

The platform offers a tool to draft and electronically sign breeding contracts between the stallion owner and the mare owner. In this respect:

• Equ'un only provides a drafting and signing aid. The contract is concluded between the stallion owner and the mare owner, who freely define its content.
• Equ'un is not a party to the breeding contract, does not guarantee it, and is involved neither in its performance nor in its payment, which remains off the platform.
• The signature offered is a simple electronic signature within the meaning of the European eIDAS regulation. Its evidential value is assessed in light of the circumstances and does not equal that of a qualified electronic signature.
• For evidentiary purposes, Equ'un records, at each signature, the date and time, the IP address, the browser used, and a digital fingerprint of the signed document.
• The stallion owner may choose to handle the contract off the platform. That choice is then displayed on the breeding record, so that the mare owner sees it when consulting the record.

Equ'un helps you prepare certain formalities related to equine breeding. Two levels of help coexist, and it matters not to confuse them. On the one hand, we produce two PDF documents: the covering declaration (known in France as the DPS) and the annual breeding record book. On the other hand, for the birth declaration and for the identification and registration of the foal, we produce no file at all: we simply display on screen, field by field, the information you will have to re-enter on the official portal. In both cases:

• These documents are provided purely as an indicative pre-filling aid. They are not official documents.
• Equ'un is not connected to any official system (for example the IFCE's SIRE registry) and does not submit any declaration on your behalf. You must re-enter and submit your filings yourself on the relevant official portals.
• You remain solely responsible for your reporting obligations, their accuracy, and their deadlines with the authorities and studbook organizations.
• Equ'un does not guarantee the compliance, acceptance, or validity of these documents with the authorities, and disclaims any liability in the event of rejection or non-compliance.

The platform offers informational tools such as the cross simulator, coat-color prediction (the foal's likely coat color), and health-compliance tracking. These tools:

• The genetic simulator and coat-color prediction produce probabilistic results provided for information only. They do not guarantee the actual outcome of a cross or the color of a future foal.
• Health and compliance tracking performs an audit based on the information declared. It flags statuses and missing items but does not prescribe any treatment or protocol.
• None of these tools constitutes veterinary, health, or breeding advice, and none replaces consulting a veterinarian or a qualified professional.

For breedings by artificial insemination, the platform lets you track the shipment of semen doses (fresh, chilled, or frozen). In this respect:

• Equ'un provides a simple logistics-tracking tool between the stallion owner and the mare owner.
• No payment for semen or transport is charged on the platform.
• Equ'un is neither a carrier, nor an insemination center, nor a veterinarian.
• Equ'un assumes no liability for the quality, viability, preservation, transport, or loss of the semen, which are the responsibility of the parties and their providers.

The platform includes an internal messaging system between users. The following rules apply:

• Messaging is used to coordinate matches, bookings, and breeding logistics.
• Message content is encrypted before being stored. Equ'un does not monitor conversations, and our administration interface does not allow them to be read: no member of our team can view your messages from within the product. A direct extraction from the database would remain technically possible, and we would only carry one out in response to a court order or an equivalent legal obligation.
• Harassment, spam, unlawful content, and using messaging for purposes unrelated to the service are prohibited.
• Equ'un's model provides that breeding transactions are settled off the platform; exchanging your contact details for that purpose is therefore allowed and is not treated as circumvention.

Equ'un may offer verification mechanisms (for example of identity, of a horse's identification number, or of studbook documents) that give rise to trust badges. A badge indicates that a verification was performed according to our procedures at a given point in time; it is not an absolute guarantee and does not engage Equ'un's liability for the user's future conduct. Documents submitted for verification are processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

The Pro and Elite subscriptions are offered for sale on the platform and charged through our payment provider. Their prices, duration, renewal, cancellation, right of withdrawal, and the consequences of a payment failure are governed by the Terms of Sale.

The Equ'un name, logo, design, and all proprietary content of the platform are owned by Equ'un and are protected by intellectual property laws. You may not use our trademarks or copyrighted material without our prior written consent.

To the extent permitted by law:

• Equ'un does not guarantee the quality, safety, or legality of any breeding services arranged through the platform.
• Equ'un is not responsible for disputes between users, including breeding outcomes, payment disagreements, or the quality of the service provided between the parties.
• The platform is provided on an "as-is" basis. We use our best efforts to ensure its reliability, without guaranteeing uninterrupted or error-free service.
• For professional users, Equ'un's total liability arising from use of the platform is limited, to the extent permitted by law, to any amounts paid to Equ'un in the twelve months preceding the triggering event.
• For consumers, nothing in these Terms limits or excludes the rights the law grants them, in particular statutory guarantees and the right to hold Equ'un liable for fault.

An account may end in the following cases:

• You may delete your account at any time from your settings. Deletion includes a 30-day grace period during which you can cancel it.
• Equ'un may suspend or terminate an account that violates these Terms, engages in fraudulent activity, or harms the platform community.
• Upon termination, your right to use the platform ceases. Data retention and deletion follow our Privacy Policy. Any ongoing paid subscription is governed by the Terms of Sale.

These Terms are governed by French law and the law of the European Union. If you are a consumer, you keep the benefit of the mandatory provisions of the law of your country of residence and may bring proceedings before the courts of your domicile.

In the event of a dispute, we invite you to contact us first, at the address given in article 21, to seek an amicable solution. We undertake to examine any complaint and to reply to it.

We may modify these Terms at any time. Substantial changes will be communicated on the platform at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use of the platform after they take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

Article L.111-7 of the French Consumer Code requires us to explain clearly how listings are ranked in search results. Here is the rule, which is deliberately simple:

• By default, listings are shown from the most recently published to the oldest. No other criterion plays any part in that default ranking.
• You can choose a different order at any time from the search page: by distance from a location you specify, by ascending price, by descending price, by average rating, or from the oldest to the most recent. The order applied is always the one you chose.
• No position can be bought. Neither the Pro plan, nor the Elite plan, nor any other payment moves a listing up the results. Paid plans raise usage limits and unlock presentation options, and never influence ranking. We run no advertising and no sponsored placement.
• The filters you apply, such as breed, discipline or breeding method, narrow down which listings are shown but do not change the order in which the remaining listings are presented to you.
• A listing stops appearing in results when its owner unpublishes it or deletes their account, when it exceeds the limits of their plan following a subscription change, or when we remove it for a breach of these Terms under the conditions set out in article 6.

For any question about these Terms of Use, you can contact us: