.horse

gTLD
Type	community gtld
Status	Delegated
Registry	Minds + Machines
Find out more:

.horse is a delegated Community gTLD with ICANN's new gTLD expansion program for the horse industry. The proposed application succeeded and was delegated to the Root Zone on 31 March 2014.

The Dot Horse Project LLC applied for the .horse string and became the registry operator of the string. MMX, also known as Minds + Machines, applied for the gTLD on behalf of the company and its subsidiary.

The application for the .horse TLD is supported by the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government, Keeneland Pony Club, Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce, Inc., Kentucky Equine Humane Center, and the Inforatag Racing Stable LLC.

Intended Use

.horse is a generic top-level domain targeted to equine industry professionals, including trainers, instructors, breeders, facility managers, bloggers, or horse enthusiasts.

Delegation and Availability

.horse was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on 31 March 2014, completing the successful application for the string, and went into GA on 15 September 2014.

Notable Users

.horse web addresses are uniting the worldwide horse community. Whether a trainer, riding instructor, breeder, equine facility manager/owner, or someone who blogs about his or her riding adventures, users now have a chance to get the domain name that perfectly expresses what they do.

Application Details

The following is excerpted from the applicant's response to question #18:

"The purpose of the .horse gTLD is to offer horse owners, service providers, horse industry employees, and volunteers the opportunity to clearly define their presence on the Internet and to help potential customers gain access to content about horses.

As horse owners begin to take advantage of e-commerce and other Internet technologies, horse enthusiasts are looking for easier ways to find equine information and products online. The .horse domain will serve as the definitive home of horse-related content online.

There are 9.2 million horses in the United States alone or roughly 3 horses per hundred people. 4.6 million Americans are involved directly in the industry as service providers or owners—tens of millions more participate as spectators. The horse industry directly provides more than 416,000 jobs and represents an overall market of $39 Billion. (Source: http:⁄⁄www.theequestrianchannel.com⁄id3.html)

In the United Kingdom, 43 percent of households have at least one member with some form of interest in equestrianism. This interest is also growing. In 1999, only 2.4 million UK residents had ridden in the last 12 months. In 2011, that number had almost doubled to 4.2 million. According to the British Horse Industry Confederation, the equestrian sector is the single largest sporting employer in the UK.

Restrictive Policies

We specifically examined more restrictive registration policies, such as limiting registration to members of organizations with a specific tie to horses. We rejected such limitations because they would interfere with .horse’s primary mission, purpose, and goals--which is to encourage as many registrants as possible to associate themselves with horses for any legal purpose. Factors that we took into account when considering a more restrictive registration policy included:

• Our recognition that registrants of a .horse domain name will self-select because they have an interest in horses, naturally reducing the number of potential registrants; and, because restrictive policies such as, for example, requiring membership in a specific organization or organizations, would exclude many legitimate registrants from obtaining a .horse domain name. For example, and by way of illustration, if membership an organization were required for registration, businesses and charitable organizations that would find a .horse top-level domain name an effective marketing tool would be excluded from registering a .horse domain name as they might not be eligible to be members in an organization that accepted only natural persons for membership.

With respect to protecting registrant privacy and confidential information, we will comply with all applicable ICANN rules, including Whois policies, and all applicable laws, rules, and regulations of appropriate jurisdictions. Registrant privacy and use of confidential information are set forth in our Privacy & Whois Policy. Information concerning updates and changes to the Privacy & Whois Policy will be promptly and prominently displayed on the .horse web site."

Contract Signed

On November 21, 2013 MMX received a Registry Agreement signed by ICANN for .horse after passing the Initial Evaluation.

Generic Top-level Domain

Top-Level Domain