It's a horse breeding/competition sim with an emphasis on realistic genetics, and I'm totally hooked. 

You can choose from 11 breeds but more are available with crossbreeding. Although there are premium options, it's still very easy to play (and do well) for free. At the moment its very favourable to new players, as V2 is coming soon so a lot of players are clearing out their stables and selling good horses for cheap. If you're interested in playing V2 closed beta (hopefully launching before Christmas) you need to make a donation, but V1 will stay open until V2 goes public. And if you do want to go premium, you can now get permanent premium on V1 for the price of one month ($5); it will never expire until V2 goes public and V1 closes.

There's no referral program but if you join, send me a message there (Downtide West #10743, or Downtide East #10760), tell me you saw this post, and I will be able to set you up with a free horse or two - I currently have Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds and Andalusians to give away.

http://www.eqcetera.com/

So is there an exact date on V2? I was considering joining but if V1 is closing I figure I'll just to V2

It's supposed to be this week, but it will only be open to V1 players who have already donated.  There's no date yet for when V2 will go public.  In the meantime V1 will continue running in parallel so its still worth joining.