I am thinking of using Mare Stare but I can’t quite figure out what all the service provides. For those who use it, could you give me some feed back about your experiences. Thanks in advance. - E
I have used them for years with good success. I pay for a three month so start watching a month before projected date and now watch a month after foaling.
I have an old laptop that I only use for streaming marestare. A few years I used a wireless system but the feed was too inconsistent with quality that I ended up hardwiring from my stall camera to my house. I then hook up that line to a capturing device on the laptop. Marestare folks will send you software to download onto your computer and walk you through the final setup.
I am totally not computer savvy and can do it;-)
I hadn’t even thought about transmitting the feed to the internet. Does the speed of your internet service impact the feed? The service we have here is quite poor. I am sure I will get this wrong, but essentially we are paying for a 10 level / increment of speed and actually only getting about a 2.8. Downloading programs and software takes much longer than it would in an urban area, so I would imagine the feed would be very poor.
What exactly does Mare Stare provide? Do people have your phone number to call you at 2:00 am (on day 35 of watching / waiting) and tell you your mare is foaling?
How far away is the barn from your house? That will determine what sort of set up you need.
Your internet speed will probably be ok. You can set the software to upload only a frame per second which will not give you full motion, but way good enough to know what is happening with the mare.
People will only have your contact info if you want them to have it. I always had my number posted and encouraged people to call if they saw the mare lie down into foaling position. I would prefer to get a few false alarms than to miss the foaling.
You end up having some really loyal viewers who will tell you to go get some sleep because they are watching for you. I’ve gotten calls from Australia, Sweden and Argentina about mares foaling. We even had a police dispatch office “adopt” us and keep watch all night!
Mare Stare provides a website, software and streaming service for your camera. You still need to provide your camera, computer, DSL and image capture device. I bought my camera and image capture device on Amazon years ago. You can make your “page” on their website private or public. If public others can contact you.
You can also check out foalingcamera.com (riverwind surveillance) and speak to him. They sell whole camera set-ups and I think offer website hosting as well.
[QUOTE=Cartier;8227033]
I hadn’t even thought about transmitting the feed to the internet. Does the speed of your internet service impact the feed? The service we have here is quite poor. I am sure I will get this wrong, but essentially we are paying for a 10 level / increment of speed and actually only getting about a 2.8. Downloading programs and software takes much longer than it would in an urban area, so I would imagine the feed would be very poor.
What exactly does Mare Stare provide? Do people have your phone number to call you at 2:00 am (on day 35 of watching / waiting) and tell you your mare is foaling?[/QUOTE]
Thank you Rebecca and Blume F. I spoke with Heather last night, was VERY impressed overall. My specific situation presents challenges, so I may not be able to use Mare Stare for this foaling, but I think it is an excellent service and will incorporate the system in the barn design going forward.
I used Mare Stare for three of my foalings and while I was happy with the service I would never give them a single cent ever again due to their moderation and condoning of outright abuse of some of the mares on there.
Thank you Laurierace for your post. I did watch marestare (as if i needed to with all the foals I have had at my farm)…got spoken to by I think Heather for speaking up when I KNEW either the mare or foal were in trouble. We are just suppose to pray or send well wishes. It was way to hard for me to keep my mouth quiet when I was seeing bad management or downright abuse of these poor horses and ponies. Thus, I stopped watching.
[QUOTE=Sugarbrook;8230593]
I did watch marestare (as if i needed to with all the foals I have had at my farm)…got spoken to by I think Heather for speaking up when I KNEW either the mare or foal were in trouble. We are just suppose to pray or send well wishes. It was way to hard for me to keep my mouth quiet when I was seeing bad management or downright abuse of these poor horses and ponies. Thus, I stopped watching.[/QUOTE]
The reason the mods on marestare come down hard on people who criticize the
condition or management of the mares or foals is because…many marestare customers complained to them when viewers were outraged about blatant neglect or mismanagement, failure to get vet involved, failure to treat mare or foal in distress, and other such poor horsemanship. I’ve known a breeder who cancelled marestare for this reason. But this particular breeder deserved the criticism. It became a window on their POOR management.
I got banned for criticizing a mare owner who allowed her emaciated mare to colic for two days without any vet intervention. She decided to induce thinking that would make her feel better and of course the foal died. A couple of days later the mare died as well. I understand about not allowing armchair breeding experts to criticize something they know nothing about but Heather and marestare were culpable in that mare and foal’s death if you ask me. I called the humane society in their area but they were in the woman’s pocket and did nothing. She lost 9 mares and/or foals in three years and all we could do is pray. F that, she needs to be in jail.
link to the COTH thread about that mare
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?426294-This-isn-t-likely-to-end-well&highlight=Fancy+dead+foal
I don’t remember getting banned, but spoken to quite often. Watching total disregard for these ponies and horses was beyond what I could imagine. I just quit watching. Now, understand, there were many many great farms posting their horses and ponies that were perfect caretakers. A few…not good at all!!
I don’t use Mare Stare, but we do love our cameras and system from www.foalingcamera.com. Easy to work with, easy to add additional cameras and very knowledgeable people.
I am not a breeder and used to watch TWO farms I really trusted and learned a lot from. One quit using MS and their board on MS was even deleted by Heather. I will never go back on that site due to what Laurie mentioned. It can be awful and all the prayers in the world do not make so many wrongs … right!
Who remembers the mare with the twins? MS even came on Coth to tell us to stop… and when they found some similar user names, just banned us!
IF your farm is top notch, you will be fine… if not, well, you will be fine too I guess.
I also remember “I” could recognize a red bag and noone dared say anything. Finally, one viewer called the “breeder” and told her what to do!! My God, so many watching and just praying! ugh
