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The Animal Science Extension team at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture provides a yearly joint in-service training for county agents. In previous years, in-service trainings were held on a regional basis, with one one-day training in each region of the state for a total of 3 trainings. In 2021, the Animal Science team took a difference approach by offering a centrally located, conference style in-service training that lasted for 3 days. There were separate tracks for 4-H and Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) with concurrent sessions, and a few combined sessions with general program updates. A range of topics were covered in species-specific sessions, covering beef, dairy, small ruminant, equine, and poultry. On day 3, to increase agent interaction during the in-service training, the Animal Science Extension team created a mini-academic quadrathlon (AQ) to test the agents in a friendly competition. The AQ had species-specific hands-on lab sections and a quiz bowl competition. Teams were created by Specialists to ensure that each team comprised agents with varying levels of knowledge and experience. In December 2021, fifty-two agents participated in the training. An evaluation was administered at the end of the training to gauge effectiveness of each session. Of the 28 respondents, 15 were ANR agents, 7 were 4-H agents, 5 were ANR/4-H agents, and 1 was an area specialist. When asked to give an overall rating for the quiz bowl session of AQ on scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent, 71% of respondent responded “5: excellent.” When asked the same for hands-on lab portions of AQ, 95% of agents responded “5: excellent.” Selected comments regarding the AQ during in-service training included: “Day 3 by far was the most fun I have had at an in-service. I loved it.” and “I thought the stations and quiz bowl was a great way to tie in everything that was covered in the first two days. Fun and educational!” Specialists concluded that the AQ was a highly effective way to deliver in-service training to agents in an exciting way. Due to the success of the program, the 2022 in-service training taking place in December, will follow the same format.

The large population of emaciated horses continues to be an issue troubling the equine industry. However, little is known regarding the collection of equine metabolites (metabolome) during a malnourished state and the changes that occur throughout nutritional rehabilitation. In this study, ten emaciated horses underwent a refeeding process, during which blood samples were collected for a blood chemistry panel and metabolomics analysis via ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). Significant differences among blood chemistry analytes and metabolite abundance during the critical care period (CCP; Days 1–10 of rehabilitation) and the recovery period (RP; the remainder of the rehabilitation process) were observed. Potentially toxic compounds, analytes related to liver, kidney, and muscle function, as well as energy-related metabolites were altered during the refeeding process. The combination of blood chemistry and metabolomics analyses on starved equine during rehabilitation provide vital biological insight and evidence that the refeeding process has a significant impact on the equine metabolome.