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And so it begins again: foaling cameras
I finally broke down and bought myself a PC because I need a way to test sites in IE without having to go to a friend’s house or borrow someone’s laptop. My Mac is starting to show its age, too, which means I need to think about a new laptop down the line. Maybe next Christmas.
At any rate, an unexpected benefit: I can access the foaling cams (Mare Stare, We Foal, etc).
I watched a little last year because I had access to someone else’s PC (my Mac will not display the cams). I saw the good and bad and almost refreshingly normal. By chance, I caught Suerte foaling. I did not actually see Sassy’s unfortunate experience, but I did read at least some of the discussions in its aftermath.
I will say that as much as I appreciate the mare owners who put up cameras, I don’t think I could ever do it.
I’m too reserved and too conscious of my privacy, I think, to ever be comfortable having a cam up. With the blog, at least I can edit what information goes out and decide how much I want to share. The cams are a little too much of a fishbowl for me and, it seems to me, open too much space for misinterpretation. But I feel the same way about YouTube videos. And pictures (notice how many pictures I’ve posted on this blog? Exactly!). Sometimes, I’m surprised I blog at all.
But not everyone shares my overdeveloped sense of privacy, for which I’m grateful, because it means when I am working late into the night on this or that project I can stare at mares who have apparently no intention of ever having their foal, but who seem to know exactly when I am contemplating shutting down the cam, because the invariably drop and roll. Fun!
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Comments
I watched Suerte, but didn’t see the sneaky mare foal. I did however see Sassy’s sad ordeal.
I had a live cam on two mares last year even though I feel the same way as you about my privacy. But having had such a scary experience as I did with the twins, I felt that sacrificing my privacy for the sake of my mares was worth it.
I spend as much time as I can in the barn watching but that can’t be every minute, I am only one person. Those sneaky mares can be so good at waiting until that quick trip up to the house and things can go wrong so fast, it’s just been easier to give in and use the camera. My discomfort over it’s presence is offset by knowing that I can take a break and still have someone watching my mare.
The added benefit was finally catching Aana foaling. She wasn’t happy but it has made such a huge difference in the attitude of her foal. She has always taught them to be afraid of us up until I caught her foaling. This foal is much more social and less stressed than her other four. That alone has been worth it.
Someone on another site just called me paranoid. It was in all caps with extra spaces between the letters, so I think I was supposed to be insulted. Ha! My middle name is paranoid. (Well, it’s not, but I can’t tell you what is really is because I am—ready for it?—paranoid.) (I crack myself up, I really do.) (I think I need more sleep.)
MiKael, thanks for the explanation. It makes sense, and under those circumstances I’d probably be thinking hard about the cams, too.
On Jan 7, 2008, mrs mom said:
I too feel like that- I do not want pics or video up of my “private life”. I think I only blog as a way to attempt to keep my sanity! http://halt-near-x.com/images/smileys/wink.gif Going into detail just seems to invite trouble.
Paranoia is a pain, but maybe it has its place too?