Written by Ken, Cattlesoft Customer Service Representative
Recently Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts invited me to be a guest speaker for their Bovine Club meeting.
Being the loyal company man that I am I took them up on their offer. After 3 long flights I was met at the airport by a young lady that took me to a really nice resort hotel to get settled in.
Another hard day at the office.
About 7:00 that evening Dr. J Q Robinson picked me up and we met several of the students for a nice Italian dinner. The staff and students at the University made me feel right at home. There were a lot of questions about CattleMax and ranching in Texas.
Saturday I gave a presentation on the history of CattleMax and how it became a leader in Herd Management Software. I also talked about how some veterinarians are using CattleMax to help their customers with their herds. I presented the software and demonstrated how effective it is for managing cattle herds. After that I talked with a group of students who had some specific questions about CattleMax.
I had Sunday off so I arranged a couple of dives with a local dive shop operator. It was really nice being back underwater again. The water was cool and clear and the visibility was very good. There were lots of fish and some nice coral. On the second dive we visited a wreck and a bulldozer that had somehow ended up a few miles offshore in 50 feet of water.
Monday morning we had another hands on session working with Dr. Robinson and other facility members. Ross University maintains a herd of approximately 70 donkeys and we found our EquineMax program would helpful in managing the herd. Later we met with the IT staff and discussed adding EquineMax to the Ross University network.
Monday afternoon was open so I hired a cabbie to give me an island tour. St. Kitts was “discovered” and named by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second trip to the new world. St. Kitts is a beautiful island, it is known as the Gibraltar of the West Indies because of the Brimstone Hill Fortress constructed intermittently between 1690s and 1790s and occupied by both the French and the British at various times. It is the largest fortress ever built in the Eastern Caribbean and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Standing At the fortress you get a wonderful view of neighboring islands and the beautiful green lushness of St. Kitts. I kept thinking of the terrible drought we are having here in Texas and how well my cattle could do in that deep St. Kitts grass. Apparently there are not very many cattle being raised there. I was told the Kittitians primarily eat chicken, seafood, pork and goats and not a lot of beef.
I was very impressed with the students and faculty of Ross University, and I thank them for the hospitality they extended to me. I was given the nickname “SCUBA Ken” by some of the students and they presented me a Ken Doll from the Barbie collection to autograph for them to keep.
Cool post, SCUBA Ken!
Thanks so much for coming to Ross. It was a pleasure to have you visit and so very informative. I hope to have you back to speak to the club again in the future.
Thanks Emily, It was a real pleasure meeting and talking with you. My schedule is always open for another visit to Ross University.
Thank you for coming down to Ross. My boss back home has about 80 head of cattle primarily which are Belted Galloway. He started using CattleMax a couple years ago and has tried to keep up with it as much as his busy schedule allows him. After attending your talk I immediately told him that he could print the registration form for the Belted Galloway Society right off cattlemax and he exclaimed “I better get back on top of my records because that is absolutely amazing.” And his wife emailed me a week or so later and told me that all the records have been updated and the registrations for his last calf crop were all printed off cattlemax. Now my next task is to teach him how to palpate for pregnancies, I hope it goes as well as teaching him about CattleMax!
That’s great Brianna. I am very happy that I was able to help you get their herd organized. Feel free to give me a call if I can help with anything.
It was a real pleasure meeting you and I thank you all for the hospitality.