She used a strong offense as her defense.
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I would not be in favor of a camera/ phone ban but I would be in favor of a barn having a very strict social media policy. The anonymity of the internet makes people feel entitled to post things with no context or understanding of the possible consequences. Seeing how quickly things can get out of hand online if I was a trainer I would be very uncomfortable with anyone posting anything about my business without some sort of rules/ guidelines.
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Camera for farm are fine and expected I think. I have a ring, I have exterior cameras, I know who is coming and going. Itās a farm, if I leave for a horse show itās inevitable some rando is going to show up asking for a trail ride because they saw a horse by the road.
But, idraw the line tsking videos of me. I think itās awkward when people take videos of me in sale appointments. I tell them no videoing me when I ride the horse first - who knows where that goes in the interwebs, but Iām happy to video them on their own phone to review with their trainer.
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A BO who is unable to have a conversation without blowing up is a rare thing!
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I would only be ok with the trainer / barn rules about no cameras if I could still video my lessons. I like having a cam in each horses stall to monitor their health, not to spy on the workers.
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When I re-build our round pen, it will have at least 8ā solid walls-and I guarantee it is not because I plan on beating horses. I have had to many semi loony toons try to climb out of panels.
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This argument looks like a bummer, a ārace to the bottomā to me.
- I should choose better if I need to police with a camera.
- But there is not better to choose.
- So I will choose bad but police with a camera.
Hereās the thing: Video evidence or not, you still have to confront (negotiate with?) the person who didnāt something you didnāt like and whom you didnāt trust or whose care you didnāt like prior to that. How is this going to work?
I just donāt think that cameras are a substitute for good faith business relationships.
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sigh
We had a thing locally a couple years ago. A ātrainerā in my local area was attempting to āeducateā his clueless groupies. He had video of two different riders in the I1 at the local show in a kind of compare and contrast the two rides. He did not identify either of them, but to pretty much anyone local it was plainly obvious who the two riders were. And he did not get permission from either of the riders to use their videos. One was very, very nice. The other, while acceptable, was not as fancy. While them being at the show falls under a lack of privacy expectations, posting their rides without permission was very mean girl and unnecessary.
Had the person done a in-person seminar with the video I would still think it was a crappy thing to do, but posting online was waaaaay beyond the line. To the point that I used to go to offenderās barn to clinic with a high level pro he brought in, and flatly refused to do so again for fear that Iād end up being the subject of his next āwhat is wrong with thisā video segment.
The less fancy horse rider never really recovered from the incident. I donāt think she ever showed that horse again. People need to think about the consequences of posting things like this. Nothing about the plainer ride was remotely abusive, it just wasnāt as fancy.
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Iām of two minds on this. I would have LOVED to have had cameras up in the tack room 15 or 20 years ago at the barn I was at in high school when the vast majority of my tack got either moved around or outright stolen because god forbid any of us had tack boxes that locked. But also, at one point I had the CUTEST gelding in the world and I found him posted all over the place as being āownedā by numerous bratty children. I thought it was hilarious (he was huge and they were mostly all afraid of him) but Iām not sure Iād think it was so funny in this day and age.
Who said Iād want video for leverage??? Iād want video to help me determine to yank the horse, including for me to get a second opinion after the inevitable gaslighting that follows an event of abuse. Iād want a stall cam, if I could have one, to make sure they are feeding my horse and check on my horseās well being. Iād want my cell phone so that I can get work calls.
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our barn added cameras a year or two ago because certain boarders were helping themselves to extra hay on a regular basis, and one staff member was feeding horses extra stuff at night check. They also put a gate and lock on the hay storage area. (note that hay in Florida is crazy expensiveā¦)
I want my cell phone first because my musical freestyle music is on there and second because I have a family member with chronic health issues.
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I have 10 cameras around my barn and five (well four, one died, need to replace it) at my house. The cameras around the barn are motion activated; they are placed to cover anyone entering the barn from either side, the tack room, the hay and equip shed, the street side of my barn paddock catches every vehicle that drives by (Iām double fenced but still), under my lean-to, and the far side of my barn paddock has a tall pole with three cameras that cover the other side of the barn paddock, the alley to the other paddocks, and the arena.
Iām not even a boarding facility, though I will be opening up for clinics next year. The cameras arenāt leaving. My rules will state there are cameras. The ones on the pole arenāt exact indiscreet. If someone isnāt up to any good, they shouldnāt have an issue.
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