Mare Stare – A Healthy Addiction

Mare Stare is a streaming cam hosting site for breeders of horses. Admittedly there are a few other animals including, cats, dogs, goats, alpacas, ponies and donkeys, but horses, ponies and donkeys are in the majority. While surveillance cameras are not new in the equine business, until recently, it has only been high-end breeders that could afford them. But with the growth of the internet, more and more small farms and breeders are able to afford to put their animals on camera for others to watch.

Mare Stare started when Heather and Shannon Troglauer, owners of Mulligan’s Run Farm, purchased their first miniature horse Vicki. After the purchase it was discovered that Vicki was in foal. Heather and her daughter Shannon where both thrilled and scared to death! They weren’t new to horses, but knew nothing about birthing babies – at least of the equine persuasion. Determined to educate themselves in time, they found a few cams online where they learned a great deal about foaling and the complications that could arise.

Heather did a great deal of reading but says the live experiences were “priceless”. One of the things she learned watching other cams was about a red bag delivery. This is when the placenta separates from the uterus early in the delivery, cutting off the oxygen supply to the foal. Obviously in this situation it is imperative to deliver the foal in a timely fashion and insure the nose and lungs are clear of fluid. This lesson proved invaluable, as Vicki’s first foal was a red bag. Because of what they had learned watching the cams they knew what to do and safely delivered a beautiful filly named Dancer who is now a part of their breeding program.

By the time Vicki foaled Heather had become totally addicted to watching the cams and decided that next year she would do the same with her own growing herd. Being computer savvy herself and with the help of her IT friend she had her cameras up ready to go online. In the meantime, the hosting company she had planned to use decided to up their rates substantially charging both owners and viewers. The small farms could no longer afford to pay the higher fees.

She contacted her IT friend and told him she wanted to purchase her own server and put the cams on it and requested his assistance. She purchased the name Mare Stare, a common phrase used among cam owners and viewers — and in December of 2004 Mare Stare was launched.

There were 12 cams the first year. They put up a message board and soon others were asking to Mare Stare too. Word spread and more and more cams were added. Now with well over 200 cams worldwide, Mare Stare stands as the largest streaming cam hosting site for breeders of horses.

They provide peace of mind to breeders knowing that their mares will be watched giving them the opportunity to have relatively normal lives during foaling season. Not at all the norm since most breeders are sleep deprived in the first 4-8 months of the year! In addition a community of Mare Starer’s has sprung up on the message boards. Each farm is given their own “Farm Board” where they can discuss what is going on and have a great deal of fun.

Most folks are themselves horse owners, but many are just animal lovers who find the sense of shared community to their liking. Some, like me, have related businesses and joined in as an opportunity to network. In no time at all we have all found ourselves addicted to Mare Stare and made many new friends all over the world.

Mare Stare is venturing out into the world of Auctions and Special Events. Using their streaming cam technology, you can give your otherwise small to medium venue a World Wide presence. Check out their Live Events page at http://www.marestare.com/events/

Mare Stare is also entering the world of blogging. You can find the latest blog post at http://marestare.wordpress.com/  (I think she blames me???) 

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All Foal Pictures on this page used with permission by Jessi Zamboni of CheyAut Ranch. Jessi is the owner and Photographer. Upper right is Ruby and her filly, Solitaire and The other pictures are of Casi and her colt, Jackpot.

Cheryl Harless is the Horseless VA

Why The Horseless VA?

My name is Cheryl Harless.  Last name is HAR (as in laughter: hardy har har) + LESS (opposite of more).  Most of the time folks read that as Hairless — Nope, no “i” in that name.  And kids being kids, I was called just about anything that started with an “H” and ended with “Less.”  Headless, Heartless, Hopeless… you get the idea!  But growing up horse crazy I was also called Cheryl Horseless.  Even after I actually had horses, the name stuck.  Well several decades later, I am indeed horseless (a temporary situation I assure you!) and I am also a Virtual Assistant, or VA. Thus “The Horseless VA”.

I was standing at the kitchen sink doing the dishes when it came to me that I should have a blog with that name where I could talk about the “horsie” side of my nature, and tell Equine Professionals how they could benefit from a Virtual Assistant.

What is a Virtual Assistant or VA? 

A Virtual Assistant is an individual that has probably worked for many years as an Administrative Assistant, Executive Assistant or in a similar type of position.  VAs provide across the board Administrative Services to small businesses or solo entrepreneurs from their own fully equipped offices.  By providing 10 – 20 hours of Administrative Services to the business owner each month, the owner is freed from doing many tasks for which they are probably less skilled and which take much more time for them to accomplish.

Most businesses start out with all of the focus on the money generating side of things.  Running the business, doing the paperwork and the books are often initially seen as “little things” that will take no time at all.  As the business grows those “little things” begin to look not so little and actually more like a 2-headed monster

Business are More Profitable with a Competent VA Onboard

Business owners are good at what they do.  A breeder is good at working with the animals, raising, breeding and showing them; a realtor helps people buy and sell their homes; a lawyer assists people in legal matters; just to provide a few examples.  Seldom do people also excel in the administrative side of their business.  Just as you would hire an attorney to handle your legal matters, it makes sense to hire an Administrative Professional to handle that side of your business. That is why larger businesses hire Administrative Assistants; so the head honchos can bring in the money while their assistants keep the office running smoothly, making them look good. 

By hiring a Virtual Assistant, the small business owner can realize 2, 3 or even 4 times the amount of time to do the things that bring in more money.  Isn’t that what most business owners want; more time?

For most horse people, it comes down to a question of “How much does it cost”.  With the rising cost of feed and transportation it is understandable.  But what if by spending money you could make 2 or 3 times more?  Those were my thoughts as I cleaned out the popcorn bowl — how to SHOW the VALUE of a VA in the Equine Industry where incredibly high overhead has become the norm. 

Trainers, Breeders, Coaches and Clinicians are the ones that I felt would benefit most from the type of services I offer.  But it always came down to “how much do you charge”.  And I could never show in a way that made sense to them how paying someone to take the burden off of their shoulder would give them more time to make more money.

Well with pruning fingers, the thought came to me.  Breeders have traditionally spent most of the first part of their year, living and sleeping in their barns.  As cameras became more prevalent, sleep deprived people migrated back to their homes to watch their animals from the comfort of their bed or easy chair while watching them on the TV.  While still sleep deprived, they were more comfortable and could get things done around the house while still watching the mare due to foal.  With the creation of Web cams, breeders could go to sleep during foaling season, reasonably assured that their horses were being watched around the clock by people who would alert them to the slightest problem.  With a phone nearby they could actually have a life! Going out to dinner for a few hours was a very real possibility!  How much was that time worth to a breeder? 

They still have to feed, water, clean stalls, groom horses, etc.  But just having that one chore taken off their plate is a huge release.  They can sleep, be more awake during the day when dealing with animals, Farriers, Vets and Buyers.

Virtual assistance can do the same thing, but in a different way.  Every business owner, Equine related or not, can benefit from more time and better organization.  That is what a VA provides.  How much more money could the trainer, coach or clinician bring in if s/he had 10-40 more hours a month to work with the horses and/or riders?  How much more could YOU do and/or bring in with more free time?