Why you should place a security camera in your horse's stall

You might recall earlier posts back in February when my 27-year old Paint colicked with a strangulated lipoma and needed emergency surgery.  I was fortunate that this happened in the morning when people arrived at the barn and noticed his discomfort. Getting him to an emergency hospital was crucial to his survival and recovery. But, this got me thinking. What if it had happened during the night when no one was at the barn? On average, horses at the barn where Kobeejo is boarded, come in at 5pm in nice weather. They stay in until 9am the next morning. That's 16 hours spent in their stalls. (Many, including Kobeejo, will stay out on nice nights in summer, but generally, November through June is spent in at night). Usually, the barn is void of humans from 7pm until 8am. Eleven hours with no one watching them. That amount of time can mean life or death if something goes wrong.

Not long ago, a friend lost a horse due to colic and a twisted intestine, all of which happened at night when no one was watching. By morning, the horse was in such pain and distress he had to be put down. He was only 19 years old. In other cases, I have seen far too many horses Kobee's age (and younger) who also developed strangulated lipomas while no one was there to catch the symptoms. By the time the vet arrived, they either waited to see if this case of colic would "clear itself" or by the time the horse arrived at the hospital, it was too late to save them. This is far too common.

Due to all of these factors, I decided I wanted to place a security camera in my horse's stall. I am a night owl by nature, so I knew I could watch him in real-time for most of the night. My friend, Connie, comes to the barn at 4:30am to care for her horse, Ivy, and she checks on Kobeejo at that time. I am usually in bed by 4am. So, Kobeejo can be watched almost all night. If I see him acting strange at, say, midnight, I can call the barn owner and be there within 20 minutes. This could potentially save his life.

So, I began doing my research on cameras I can use that do not require internet connection. The barn has security cameras, but they are in the aisleways, not in stalls, and I was not allowed to access their wifi. I found a few cameras that work off 4G LTE, the same as any smart cell phone. Most worked with cell phone service I did not have. Since I have Verizon, the only camera available to me was the Arlo Go. I purchased it and Verizon hooked it up to my cell phone account. Of course, I had to raise my data plan to a higher amount as the camera would use far more data than I use with my cell phone. Yes, it costs more per month, but my horse's life and the fact I can watch him at night gave me much peace of mind. I do lose the signal once in a while, but it usually resets itself within 2 minutes. Unfortunately, there's no way to look back on previous data; it's all live, but for $10 a month I can get 24/7 recording. 

I also had to plug the camera into a power socket (which is fortunately next to his stall) because this camera is not made to run off battery for long periods on a continuous live stream. If set to "motion detection" (armed) mode, it will not use data until movement activates it, so I scheduled it to go into this mode from the time people start arriving at the barn until I get there in the early afternoon. This way, it will be inactive while the horses are outside or I have no need to watch my horse.

In the summer, when the horses are outside, I plan to place this weather-proof camera outside, so I can watch not only my horse, but my friend's horses as well, who are in the paddocks around him. Rather than a plug, the camera can also run off a solar panel, so I do not have to worry about electricity.

I recommend the Arlo Go if you need a 4G camera and are prepared to pay a bit extra for data.