How worried should I be?

[clh]

Okay, may be a stupid questions - but I'm sure I've asked stupider (is that a word?)

Anyhow, we've had the ice and snow this week - mares and filly have been up at night due to the cold and one mare needing to be under lights and won't stay in the barn alone (yada, yada, yada). We had a thin film of ice/slush on top of the snow this a.m. when I went down and turned the mares out - you know the type you walk on then fall through - anyhow, all four mares and the filly got cuts on their legs and were bleeding - I immediately brought them in - how worried should I be about that and should I have just left them out? I know tons of folks leave their mares out in this weather - but when I started seeing blood on their socks and on the snow - I got a little worried HELP PLEASE .....

[Saddlestretcher]

It really depends on how much blood. If they have white legs just a few drops can look bad. Wash their legs off, see how bad they are. If it is just some small nicks, you can put on your medication of choice. Obviously, if they are deep, you may want to have your vet look at them. Take a good look at their heels, in weather like this, (all the mud we had) Cracked heels are common. If they get bad enough, they can bleed. Good Luck.

[clh]

Thanks - vet is coming tomorrow to give some vaccines so I'll talk to him. Just kind of freaked me out