Blood in Urine!?

So this morning I went out to clean my horses stall. In the past three days two of my horses were in there. Saturday night my pony gelding (Gizmo) ate in there and was let out about three or four hours later. Then my gelding Tiger was put in and let out about noon the next day (Sunday). Nobody went in there Sunday night but then yesterday I fed Tiger in there and let him out a couple hours later. I have been sick the past couple of days so the stall did not get cleaned since the pony went in. So I had the dreadful task of cleaning that wretched stall this morning and to my horror I found some buried bright red shavings! They both do their business in the back of the stall so it was all wet shavings where I found the spots. I have never experienced blood in the urine or poo before so I have no clue what to do. They both are eating, drinking, and walking around fine so they don't seem sick but what could be going on in there? Not sure if it could be Gizmo or Tiger. Tiger is in the stall now so when I clean his stall tonight I will check for more spots. This really scares me, if I find it again we'll call the vet because I'm still not sure if it is blood. Have any of you ever experienced this before?

*Oh, by the way Gizmo hasn't had his sheath cleaned in a while, could that possibly be the problem?

Thanks anyone with advice(:

I don't have any experience with that, but you're doing the right thing... separate them, figure out which one it is then call the vet.

I would do exactly what you are doing, but are you sure that its not just very wet shavings? At the barn I work at there are a few horses that will completely soak a part of their shavings, and when they are completely soaked they take on a red color. Just a thought.

Hope you get it figured out quickly.

Horse urine isn't always yellow--it's usually fine if it is a bit orange or reddish. I used to work for a vet who would get many calls after a fresh snow displayed the urine color...he always said that it is normally not something to worry about.

All our boys pee with some reddish color. I got really scared because there was small amounts blood everywhere they would pee in the snow. Our vet and my Farrier both said it was normal for geldings to do this.

Well I know pee turns colors in the snow but the problem is that we don't get snow where I live.. I think they are both fine though. Last night after I let Tiger out I kicked around a little in the pee spots in the stall and didn't see anything. This morning when I went to clean it though I did see some dark red shavings, not much, just hidden. I'm thinking it might just be something in the stall or after them sitting for a while it turns some of them red. But thanks everyone!

Do you have dirt floors in the stall? If so - it may simply be time to 100% strip, lime and let the stall rest for a bit to dry.

It is most likely NOT blood. Blood will not stay dark red like fresh blood, it quickly breaks down and turns black. Most likely what you are seeing is a reaction in the shavings themselves to the acidity in the urine. I tried to remember what wood does that, and if you are getting your shavings from a mill or any where really, you are not sure what type of woods are in there. Your horse would hve to be peeing straight blood to see it days later in the shavings. I will try to remember what wood turns red, but relax it is just a chemical reaction.

I agree with Peetz. It is not uncommon for pine shavings to turn pretty bright red. It is a combination of the urine being darker/more red than we realize and the reaction to the shavings.

Huh. It's still a mystery to me. The problem was was that it wasn't just big spots of red.. I just found a few shavings here and there that were red (I was thinking maybe blood clots?) and after a few days they did turn dark.. but just for future reference, what can cause blood in the urine?