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Early recognition of an illness or problem with your horse is easier to catch if you are familiar with what is normal for your horse. If your horse is usually a voracious eater and suddenly shows less interest in their feed, this can be a first sign that something isn’t right. Many changes in health status can be identified simply by observing your horse in his or her environment. Vital signs can be evaluated to provide indications of the type of illness or health challenges your horse may be experiencing. This article presents methods to help you make observations of your horse’s behavior and determine what is normal or abnormal and how to take and evaluate vital signs.

You are asked by the show manager to assess the health of five horses that arrived late last night at the horse show grounds because someone has complained that they are not healthy. If there is any chance that one or more are sick, they must be immediately quarantined, diagnosed, treated, and/or sent home. Your friend who works in a vet clinic advises you to get all their vitals and call the local vet if anything looks abnormal. Where do you start!? The vet will be much more prepared and will usually engage with you with a more informative and proactive discussion. Not every abnormal vital sign will result in a veterinary visit. In fact, noticing sub-optimal observations/signs may prevent an expensive vet visit by catching something early. Regular monitoring of your horses’ behaviors and vital signs can help you be proactive in adopting management changes when an issue arises.

“Normal” behavior can vary greatly between horses. While one horse is content to hang out watching pasture mates and is low on the herd hierarchy, the pasture clown who is always tearing off his pasture mates fly masks or blankets may have a very different “normal”. It is good for you to know what are the normal behaviors and vital signs for each of your horses.

The following guidelines layout the types of observations to make and how to evaluate, measure, or monitor normal and abnormal health indicators in your horses. The first set of observations reflect overall general attitude, actions, behaviors, and functions that your horse exhibits on a day-to-day basis. Your ability to make these informed observations will not only help you recognize a problem or illness earlier but sharing these observations with your veterinarian will inform your conversation with the vet and their response. If you call and just exclaim “Clover is sick!!” as opposed to “I’m worried about Clover, he stopped eating last night, his pulse is a bit higher than normal at 52 beats per minute, his gums are tacky and pale, and he is looking at his flank", the vet will be much more prepared and will usually engage with you with a more informative and proactive discussion. Not every abnormal vital sign will result in a veterinary visit. In fact, noticing sub-optimal observations/signs may prevent an expensive vet visit by catching something early. Regular monitoring of your horses’ behaviors and vital signs can help you be proactive in adopting management changes when an issue arises.

“Normal” behavior can vary greatly between horses. While one horse is content to hang out watching pasture mates and is low on the herd hierarchy, the pasture clown who is always tearing off his pasture mates fly masks or blankets may have a very different “normal”. It is good for you to know what are the normal behaviors and vital signs for each of your horses.

The guidelines presented in this document layout the types of observations to make and how to evaluate, measure, or monitor normal and abnormal health indicators in your horses. The first set of observations reflect overall general attitude, actions, behaviors, and functions that your horse exhibits on a day-to-day basis.

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In Arizona, wine production increased from 65,413 gallons (2007) to 297,145 gallons 2017) (Murphree, 2018), with an estimated 354% increase in grape pomace production within the same period. The grape pomace is a by-product of the wineries, which is obtained after crashing the grape fruits, fermenting and pressing the juice. Note that the red grape for red wine are fermented and macerated while the white grape used for white wine is not fermented before pressing. In this study, the grape pomace from red wine making was used (Fig. 1). It has both macro-and micro-nutrients with acidic pH (Table 1) due to the organic acid content and it have several uses (García-Lomillo and Gonzalez-San, 2017). The low pH of GP limits microbial activities making decomposition very slow. Composting the GP is important to help kill the grape fruits seeds and potential pathogens that may be present and could contaminate crop fields after application as a soil amendment (organic fertilizer). The use of the GP as an organic fertilizer could be a sustainable waste management strategy to reduce the waste generated in the growing wine inductry in Arizona. The study assessed poultry manure and
zeolite's effect on grape pomace (GP) pH and the impact of Figure 1: Diagramatic representation on how red grape pomace is obtained from wine making aerobic and anaerobic composting on the compost mineral concentrations.

Do your salivary glands kick into action when you think about a juicy hamburger or a salty snack? Do sugary treats draw you like metal to a magnet? Well then, you’re human! Our desire for fatty, salty, and sugary foods is the result of humans evolving over many millennia. Our bodies need fat, salt, and sugar to function—only we may not need as much as we are consuming. The latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015) recommend cutting down on fat, added sugars, and sodium (see box 1 below). Cutting back doesn’t mean we need to take all the fun and flavor out of enjoying our favorite foods. The purpose of this publication is to describe how herbs can be used as a substitute for less healthy taste enhancers such as salt, sugar, and fat.

Grapefruit (Citrus × aurantium L. var. racemosa (Risso) ined.) formerly (Citrus x paradisi) is a fruit that can cause great disagreements. Many people believe that the fruit is excessively bitter, thick-peeled and/or difficult to eat, while many others enjoy the bracing flavor of the fruit, either fresh or juiced, as an essential part of a winter morning’s breakfast. Pummelos (Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr.) are relatively unknown in the United States but are widely available in East Asian countries. Pummelos are slowly increasing in popularity due to returning travelers, East Asian immigrants and adventurous “foodies” who are willing to give them a try.

Selecting an appropriate herbicide for a weed problem can be a confusing task. Hoeing weeds would have been a simpler task than a baffling experience trying to select an herbicide off the shelf loaded with pesticides. This University of Arizona Cooperative Extension bulletin will provide information describing how to determine which herbicide to use against weeds in different landscapes.

As groundwater becomes harder to access in many areas of Arizona, risks and costs associated with groundwater wells have become an important economic consideration for property owners. Groundwater is considered a non-renewable water supply when aquifers do not recover enough from pumping to reliably produce water from the same level through time. Water may refill the aquifer very slowly, so slowly that the groundwater being pumped today may be thousands of years old. Once more water is pumped than is recharged, an aquifer is in overdraft, with multiple potential negative effects, including the water level drops that have affected the water supplies of individual small-acreage landowners.

Rainwater harvesting can provide a realistic source of water for homeowners living in remote areas or those who for one reason or another prefer not to use their groundwater inside the house. Local groundwater may have problems common in many parts of Arizona: high mineral content, naturally occurring elements such as arsenic and fluoride, and contaminants from various sources, such as overflowing septic tanks, and agricultural, industrial or mining activities. Homeowners may have low-yield or seasonally dry wells and wish to avoid trucking in water. They may be unwilling or unable to drill or deepen a well. They may prefer rainwater for its taste, softness or other desirable qualities. In these situations, homesteaders may find large-scale rainwater harvesting a practical alternative. Large systems can provide potable water for an entire household.

Vinifera grapes have become economically important crop in Arizona, as wine tourism contributed $56.2 million to the state economy in 2017. The acreage of vinifera grapes in Arizona grew from 950 to more than 1,300 acres between 2013 and 2016. In 2019, Arizona grape acreage has grown to approximately 2,000. Pierce’s disease (PD) is endemic to the Southern U.S. and is a threat to vine production in Arizona, especially in regions where winters are warm.

External parasites, such as mites and poultry lice, are common pests on birds, especially in backyard chickens. They feed on the blood and bite skin, feathers, or scales of the bird. A heavy infestation of these pests can result in poor poultry health, reduced growth and egg production, and sometimes can even cause bird deaths. This article provides basic information on how to recognize the signs and symptoms of an infestation, and how to effectively treat infested birds.

Phymatotrichopsis root rot of grape (PRR) is commonly known as cotton root rot, Texas root rot or Phymatotrichum root rot.  PRR is a destructive disease of many economic crops including wine grape grown in calcareous clay soils with a high pH range of 7.0 – 8.5 in central and southern Arizona. Significant number of vine losses to PRR occur annually in many vineyards in Cochise, Santa Cruz, and Yavapai counties.