MareStare question

[Mominis]

I have been watching several of the mares and babies on MareStare and am really enjoying it. The thought occurred to me that, since I am going to be boarding my horse out, it may be possible to rig his stall with a camera so that I can check on him online randomly when he isn't on turnout. Is that done? If so, what type of equipment do I have to get to make it work? I'm just guessing here, but would I get the camera or whatever it is and then pay a hosting company or something like that to be able to view him in his stall? How do you protect the camera or whatever it is from the barn dirt? I'm thinking it would kind of be like a nanny cam for the horse. Please keep in mind that I am not computer savvy in the sightest. I am doing well to check my email and write on the forums. I welcome your advice and thoughts on this. Thanks.

 

[Miniv]

I'm bumping this up for someone who has more knowledge in the marestare dept.

My personal opinion is that it is very possible to do, as long as the stable owner is okay with it. You're talking some wires, drilling some holes, etc in the barn.......

 

[Mominis]

Thanks. I am really hoping someone has the tech info that I need to try and get this done. Call me paranoid, but I've personally had bad experiences in boarding barns before, as have many of you, I'm sure. I'd really like to be able to just randomly check on the boy online and make sure he is being treated well (not that I don't trust the people that I'm boarding with, but you can never be too sure), make sure that he is not being hauled out of his stall so people can see the 'cute little mini,' he is not getting treats from strangers, and that sort of thing. Thanks for your reply, miniv!

 

[kaykay]

Hi There

I can tell you what you need but not sure it would work at a boarding stable unless they give you permission and a computer to hook the cam to. Or I guess you could put your own computer in the barn and leave it?? Some do buy cheap computers just to put in the barn for the cams but most are like me and the computer/cam has a line going from the house to the barn. Even wireless has to go to a computer within 300 feet.

So you would buy a camera, a dazzle (about 50.00) and the cable to run from the computer to the barn. (you can do wireless but imo its not as reliable and the barn has to be very close to the house/computer.

Then you sign up for hosting and they send you the free software to make it run.

Let me know if you have more questions

 

[Mominis]

Oh wow. I'm fairly certain that the barn owner wouldn't be thrilled about drilling into her barn. I had no idea it was that extensive of a process. Thanks for the information. I'll file that away for when we finally get our own barn.

 

[Becky]

You could get an IP camera to monitor your horse. No hosting service would be involved and no computer would be necessary at the barn. It's like a 'nanny cam'. You can look them up on the internet for more information.

 

[Mominis]

Ooooh! Good idea! I found them starting at $250 on a quick google search. I'm going to research that a little more. Thanks!

 

[Becky]

I think that's what you need. I've found them for less than $100. Obviously, the higher the price, the better the quality.

Panasonic has some that look decent to me at reasonable prices.

 

[Mominis]

Thanks for that. I'm going to check with the stale manager and see if she's okay with my putting in one. I'll go check out Panasonic, $100 sounds much more palatable than a couple of hundred! lol

 

[LittleRibbie]

Iy sounds like you found the type of camera you were looking for and I agree that many barn owners may not like you putting in a camera so it may be difficult. But I just wanted to add that some of the expensive equipment will let you monitor from many miles away. I friend of mine has a hair salon that has been broken into several times and she now has 4 cameras in her salon 24/7 and they are also hooked up to her house about 5 miles away. She paid an arm and a leg for it but boy oh boy.....you can see perfectly. very clear pictures. Wish I could afford one like it so I could have my husband install it for me at work!