# Horse meat - who eats it?



## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

With the piles of horses going to slaughter houses, someone surely has to be eating them, right?

However every time someone discovers horse meat in their food (IKEA's meatballs being the latest recall), I'm wondering who actually eats horse meat? It seems like it can be very lucrative to send horses to slaughter - why else would people haul them thousands of miles to Mexico and Canada?
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## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

Who eats it? Probably alot of people who don't KNOW they are ....

... and some that do.


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## Nightside (Nov 11, 2012)

I assume animal food? I would eat horse if it was put in front of me. There was also a time that you could donate a dying/freshly dead horse to a zoo, as long as the horse wasn't full of chemicals of course. Don't think they do that now.
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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

I'd eat it if were available for sale in the US. Can't be any more or less dangerous to eat than any other meat in the consumer pipeline.

Nightside, zoos and big cat sanctuaries still take horses. They don't want 'em dying, although old isn't a problem. The animals are usually shot on site by expert marksmen.


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## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

My brother had horse in Japan. I remember when Alpo used to have horse meat in a can .. it just doesn't seem like it would be good.. horses are too muscular and have huge vessels and tendons and stuff ... 

*shrug*


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## ApolloRider (Feb 14, 2013)

I have a friend at work who eats it, says its cheap and very good quality meat because of the lack of hormones, he is from Europe.

I have also tried it in Paris... I didn't know at first... But I'm not gonna lie it was very good. I was kinda traumatized when I found out. :/

Edit: 
In all honesty they are no different than other animals we use for meat, other than people usually see them more like pets now.


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## Kati (Feb 24, 2013)

I‘ve eaten it during my year in Italy (on an island (not Sicily)) and it was honestly the best meat I‘d had during my year (as beef is very low quality), but it really didn‘t compare to beef. It wasn‘t tough but it was sliced very thin. Due to it‘s texture, I believe it would be very tough if not sliced thin. I was told they farm the horses that they eat in the same way we farm cattle but I‘m not sure if that was just an attempt to get me to eat it.
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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

I would absolutely try it. If I found it tasty and lived in a place where I knew it was farm raised I would totally make a habit of it.
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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Kati said:


> I was told they farm the horses that they eat in the same way we farm cattle but I‘m not sure if that was just an attempt to get me to eat it.


Many places _do_ raise horses for meat just like cattle. They didn't need to lie to you, and I daresay they probably didn't care whether or not you'd eat it.


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## Kati (Feb 24, 2013)

Speed Racer said:


> Many places _do_ raise horses for meat just like cattle. They didn't need to lie to you, and I daresay they probably didn't care whether or not you'd eat it.


Haha my host family was having a hard time getting me to do it at first and it‘s a large part of their diet. I actually ended up doing jt about half way through my year after I‘d become used to the idea. That was just a little bit of my sarcasm 
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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Hungry people.

I raised an orphaned fawn this year. I've trained/raised tons of horses and dogs and have had very few connections as strong as I did with "little deer". He was 100% the easiest to train animal I've ever had. Will I shoot and eat him if we cross paths during hunting season? Yep. Better me than the coyote that would have gotten him we he was a baby, or the car that could hit him now, or the next hunter, etc... So I don't GET the whole ponehs are just pets thing.

I wish they still put horse in dog food instead of the disease/antibiotic/hormone riddled crud they scrape up off the processing floors and call "lamb" or "chicken".


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

For me, the bigger issue is that it could be someone's poneh who ended up in a bad situation or was stolen. 

Doesn't sound appetizing though.
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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

It could also be someone's poneh who would have been in an even _worse_ situation had they not been sent to slaughter. Better to be killed quickly than die slowly from starvation and neglect.


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## OutOfTheLoop (Apr 1, 2012)

I'd try it, I don't know if I could make a habit out of eating it, buy I wouldn't turn it down if it was set in front of me.
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## MissColors (Jul 17, 2011)

Id like to raise horses for slaughter. Like a 100 acre pasture just for the horses that have been untouched, no drugs. Yes I would provide care for them. But very minimum. 

I wouldn't eat my pet horse(s) but I would eat it. Someone once described it to me as being very similar to deer meat in consistency. 

If you think about tripe as a delicacy yeah well a horse sounds a lot more appetizing.
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## WSArabians (Apr 14, 2008)

Speed Racer said:


> I'd eat it if were available for sale in the US. Can't be any more or less dangerous to eat than any other meat in the consumer pipeline.
> 
> Nightside, zoos and big cat sanctuaries still take horses. They don't want 'em dying, although old isn't a problem. The animals are usually shot on site by expert marksmen.


Maybe you could soon:
Rumors: Philadelphia chef adding horse meat to menu

Filly Cheesesteak, anyone?


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

I think that's just an internet troll hoax, WSA. I've seen that before, although I think it was supposed to be a place in NYS.

_Filly_ Cheesesteak! MUAAHAAHAAA!!!! :twisted:


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## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

No Filly Cheesesteak for me ... but I'll have the Colt Cuts .... 

Bwa ha ha ha ha ....


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## JavaLover (Nov 7, 2009)

I, personally, would never eat horse meat. But then again, I don't eat cows or pigs either :/


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

What about chickens and fish, Java? Do you eat those? Not leading up to anything, just curious!


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## CowboyBob (Feb 11, 2013)

I would eat horse meat, Really before Y2K everyone was freacking out about it, and having food stored "just in case". I told everyone I have 100 head of horses in my back yard, I think I will be ok. And i knew the horse I would shoot first. Now we have moved, and only have 20 head, I still know Rose the halflinger goes first.


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## WSArabians (Apr 14, 2008)

JavaLover said:


> I, personally, would never eat horse meat. But then again, I don't eat cows or pigs either :/


No bacon? :shock:


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Poor Haflinger poneh. Is it because she's the fattest, or orneriest?

Bacon is one of God's best gifts to us, along with pork ribs. Drool!


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I have eaten horse meat on more than one occasion. I cannot say that I am a great fan because of the texture rather than the taste. 

What to me matters is not eating horse but how the horse died and travelled towards its death. 

I have raised bottle lambs and runty pigs, all have ended in the freezer and I never have an iota of guilt over eating them. 

What is wrong about the whole fiasco is that it was being sold as beef and the companies that are making the products had no follow through to see where that meat was coming from nor, the standards of hygiene that it was being killed under.

I am not a butcher but, if chunks of meat were laid out side by side I could tell you what was beef, lamb, horse, pig or deer.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I have eaten horse meat on more than one occasion. I cannot say that I am a great fan because of the texture rather than the taste. 

What to me matters is not eating horse but how the horse died and travelled towards its death. 

I have raised bottle lambs and runty pigs, all have ended in the freezer and I never have an iota of guilt over eating them. 

What is wrong about the whole fiasco is that it was being sold as beef and the companies that are making the products had no follow through to see where that meat was coming from nor, the standards of hygiene that it was being killed under.

I am not a butcher but, if chunks of meat were laid out side by side I could tell you what was beef, lamb, horse, pig or deer. Surely those 'qualified' cooks should be able to tell the difference?


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## CowboyBob (Feb 11, 2013)

Speed Racer said:


> Poor Haflinger poneh. Is it because she's the fattest, or orneriest?
> 
> Bacon is one of God's best gifts to us, along with pork ribs. Drool!


Its a little of both, but more so the ornerist-ness that puts her so high on the list.:lol::wink:


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

Groan...
I guess I would if it was my only choice. I don't think I'd go out of my way to try it. It's the "Guess who's coming to dinner" aspect, or better said, "Guess what's coming to dinner."
I don't care for lamb or venison. Not enough catsup in the world to help there. And I don't care to personally be acquainted with my dinner.
I'm not anti-slaughter by any means. Just not nuts about it being on my very own plate.


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## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

CowboyBob said:


> Its a little of both, but more so the ornerist-ness that puts her so high on the list.:lol::wink:


I would give my ... well ... I would LOVE to have a Haffie. You better get her OFF that list.. (she probably wouldn't taste good anyway.. )

*grin*


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Dust, you're allowed not to want to have known your dinner before it _was_ dinner. I can't afford to have such qualms though, since I plan to raise dual purpose chickens as well as a steer for beef in the next couple of years. 

I won't personally do the butchering though, as I'm not _that_ tough. They'll be loaded up and taken to the closest slaughterhouse, or as in the case of the chickens, to the nearest Amish farmer who will do the deed for me for $2.00 per chicken.


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## ladygodiva1228 (Sep 5, 2012)

If horse meat was offered in the US supermarkets yes I would try it. Heck I would try just about anything out there that is edible. Any meat can be made to taste good even the toughest cuts of meat. 

I made ox tail stew a few years ago for my family just because I wanted to try ox tail. It was very tasty, but my husband isn't a fan of picking meat off of bones so I only made it once. I'm always looking for new foods to try.

Was able to try monkfish for the first time on Valentines day and people were not lying when they said it was the poorman's lobster. Darn fish did taste just like lobster.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

I definitely wouldn't eat horse meat that came from horses not raised for meat. Domestic "pet" horses are treated with all kinds of drugs that couldn't/wouldn't be used in animals intended for human consumption. Not my idea of a good meal. 

I might try horse that was raised for meat... or I might not. I consider it a lot like eating cat or dog. There's no health reason not to, and maybe it's even really tasty, but it's an animal I consider a pet, not food.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Verona, cats and dogs are carnivores and I have a visceral, instinctive distaste at the idea of eating a carnivore. Don't know why, but there it is. 

I look at anonymous horse meat the same as I do beef; I didn't personally know it, so I have no emotional attachments to it.


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## CowboyBob (Feb 11, 2013)

I have raised beef once or twice I always call them by the same name. I knight them that way I can call them "Sir Loin"  knowing who and what i am eating has never bothered me. I do the same with my kids, when we have meat for dinner, I will say, this is pork its a pig, or venison that's deer. I wanted my kids to know very early that meat is animal. 
One day my daughter was looking out the window and a deer was walking by and she say "dad its a doe, she looks delicious" thats my girl.


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## CowboyBob (Feb 11, 2013)

Verona1016 I don't agree with calling horses "pet". dogs, cats, hamsters, fish, snakes..... can all be called "pets". Horses need to stay in the "live stock" category. "for me" its one of those thing, I just don't like. No offense, just sayin'


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

So...do the different breeds taste different?

Angus cows are considered the best cow. I'm sure some kind of pig is considered the best.
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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

DA, a lot of beef operations are breeding Hereford Angus crosses now. They're both beef cattle, but I've heard the meat is tastier than either breed separately.


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## Houston (Apr 15, 2012)

Meh, I couldn't do it. And if I consumed it without knowing it (and later found out) I would be highly upset.

Yes I eat beef, pork, chicken, fish. But I couldn't...wouldn't eat horse, dog, cat, etc. Perhaps its hypocritical, perhaps it's wrong, but I see one group of animals as acceptable to eat and the other group as companion animals that are unacceptable to eat.

To each his or her own, though.


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## Nightside (Nov 11, 2012)

Angus are far from the best. They are just popular. We have had our herd of Angus/Hereford crosses for 10 years or so. People jump on the bandwagon and there seems to be a new favorite or best breed eery few years. I love my black baldies.
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## Country Woman (Dec 14, 2011)

Some French people eat horse meat and so do some Dutch people too


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Kati said:


> I‘ve eaten it during my year in Italy (on an island (not Sicily)) and it was honestly the best meat I‘d had during my year (as beef is very low quality), but it really didn‘t compare to beef. It wasn‘t tough but it was sliced very thin. Due to it‘s texture, I believe it would be very tough if not sliced thin. I was told they farm the horses that they eat in the same way we farm cattle but I‘m not sure if that was just an attempt to get me to eat it.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Must have been Bresaula. Or Carpacchio. Both raw. 
It is raised like cattle, certain breeds are considered meat breeds, the TPR( a draft) and the Murgese, very similar to a Friesian, tho smaller and a bit stockier.
Supermarkets have it, packed, and marked, just like beef or pork.

I never ate the meat, I was tricked into eating bratwurst once. Have to admit, it was the best bratwurst I ever had. The meat is slightly sweet, I was told.


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## acorn (Nov 27, 2012)

texasgal said:


> My brother had horse in Japan. I remember when Alpo used to have horse meat in a can .. it just doesn't seem like it would be good.. horses are too muscular and have huge vessels and tendons and stuff ...
> 
> *shrug*


 Many many years ago, at least sixty or more, Hills had canned horse meat for dogs.


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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

Speed Racer said:


> DA, a lot of beef operations are breeding Hereford Angus crosses now. They're both beef cattle, but I've heard the meat is tastier than either breed separately.


My next steer is a Hereford Angus cross.... looking forward to comparing it to the 100% Angus steer that we're currently eating.

I would have absolutely no qualms about eating horse meat IF I 100% knew that it was safe for consumption. I don't mean processed correctly, I want to know that it didn't ingest Bute or other chemicals.

I raise my own meat so I KNOW what it did/did not consume or was injected with. Not sure I'd want to raise a horse for meat, just doesn't seem to be as cost effective as grass-fed cows. If it was legal and cheaper than my grass-fed steers...I'd give it a whirl! Who knows, might like it better than beef!

Oh and we NAME our food. Georgie is the Hereford X Angus steer out back. Doesn't bother my kids one bit because they knew he's going to be dinner long before they named him.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

I don't _plan_ to name the chickens or steer, but sometimes I can't help myself. I have a feral roaming tomcat who comes around to eat, but otherwise he isn't what I'd call 'mine'. He didn't have a name for quite awhile, but I've been calling him TomTom lately. Sigh...


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## Nightside (Nov 11, 2012)

My cows have names. I even culled one of my favorites because she never produced a calf and my bull is very reliable. Tonka, Freckles, and Zelda. I need to buy more heifers this year.
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## Zzzz (Feb 25, 2013)

Last year I had a Holstein x Angus in the freezer. It was the best beef ever, nice and lean.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Why would anyone breed a dairy cow with a beef cow? Was it an oops breeding?


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## acorn (Nov 27, 2012)

I guess I'm a wimp. I cannot eat anything I've ever seen alive.
A lotta years ago as a "new" country girl I got fifty free chicks from the feed store with the purchase of fifty lb. of chick feed.

Turned out to my horror that forty nine of them were roosters! 
I knew that I wasn't going to butcher them and my country boy husband said he wasn't so I found an old lady who would and told her I would give her half of the chickens to do it.

Took them to her and a few days later she called and told me to pick up my half.
I bought home the neat little butcher paper wrapped bundles and put them in the freezer where they sat....and sat. 

Finally one day I put on my big girl panties and pulled out a package to cook for dinner. Opened it and all I could think of was "wonder who this was"?

I could NOT cook those chickens. Ended up gathering up the packages and taking them back to the little old lady and giving them to her.
 

Even though I've lived in the country now for 44 years and raised many goats and several cows and lots of chickens I have yet had one butchered.

I am pretty sure I couldn't eat meat that I knew was horse even if it was one I'd never met.


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Speed Racer said:


> Why would anyone breed a dairy cow with a beef cow? Was it an oops breeding?


This is being done in Europe, SR...
Farmer wants milk, but Holsteins don't have much meat and the bull calves have to go somewhere. So they use a meat bull. The crosses have better slaughter weight than Holsteins.
That might have changed now with possibility of predicting gender.


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## Nightside (Nov 11, 2012)

Because dairy is cheaper, as calves anyway. I can get an 8 month old dairy heifer for 150, a beef calf would be about 500. So you cantoss in a few dairy heifers with your beef bull for a few easy bucks. Not something I do, but hey.
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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Interesting! Did not know that, desert. 

The steer I plan to get will probably be a Holstein. We have dairy barns around here, and I know the bull calves are culls. Being that he won't be a meat animal, I'm aware I won't get as much meat from him as an Angus or Hereford.


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

acorn said:


> I guess I'm a wimp. I cannot eat anything I've ever seen alive.
> A lotta years ago as a "new" country girl I got fifty free chicks from the feed store with the purchase of fifty lb. of chick feed.
> 
> Turned out to my horror that forty nine of them were roosters!
> ...


I'm soooooo with you on that......we want to get chickens for eggs....and they all will have names and die of old age....


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## OutOfTheLoop (Apr 1, 2012)

Yeah I got a chicken for eggs once, she still hasn't layed a year later. She sure is looking tastier and tastier every day.
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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Hey, nothing wrong with knowing yourself. If you can't eat something you've named and made a pet, that's okay.


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## FaydesMom (Mar 25, 2012)

I have eaten horse meat when I was stationed overseas in the military. At the time, it was much cheaper than beef. And I have to say, it was some of the best meat I have eaten. Although I do prefer venison first, then home raised bunnies and chickens. We are working on putting in meat goats next, or maybe Dexter cattle...smaller than regular sized cows for small homesteads. We only have 5 acres.

Oh also, we do name our critters, even if they are destined for freezer camp. We only keep one rooster at a time, and they are always named "Stew", just so they always know they better behave. We just had a goat we got from someone in trade for a compressor, they had named him "Mutton". Well, he obviously didn't become mutton, since mutton is sheep meat, but he was some pretty tasty chevon.


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## LostDragonflyWings (Feb 1, 2012)

JavaLover said:


> I, personally, would never eat horse meat. But then again, I don't eat cows or pigs either :/


I agree. I don't eat horse meat "on purpose" or "accidentally". Vegetarian here, so I don't eat any meat (beef, pork, fish, poultry, etc.). I don't believe it's right to eat any of them (and I am not looking for a debate by saying that).

And don't get me wrong, I loved steak and tuna before coming to this conclusion around the age of 14.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Lost, as long as you don't try to shove your non-meat eating ideals down my throat, I won't try to convert you back to being a bloodthirsty carnivore. :wink:


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## cmarie (Dec 19, 2011)

Horse meat is a very large export from Iceland.


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## ponyboy (Jul 24, 2008)

DancingArabian said:


> With the piles of horses going to slaughter houses, someone surely has to be eating them, right?
> 
> However every time someone discovers horse meat in their food (IKEA's meatballs being the latest recall), I'm wondering who actually eats horse meat? It seems like it can be very lucrative to send horses to slaughter - why else would people haul them thousands of miles to Mexico and Canada?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Sending horses to slaughter doesn't make a lot of money, it's just the easiest way to get rid of unwanted horses.

My old neighbors, who are from Italy, used to eat horse meat. Apparently they were able to get it somehow in Canada, I have no idea from where. It took us years to convince them that eating horses here wasn't a good idea for food safety reasons... But that's nothing, it also took us years to convince them that it's a bad idea to eat wild mushrooms! They're lucky to be alive.


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## FaydesMom (Mar 25, 2012)

ponyboy said:


> Sending horses to slaughter doesn't make a lot of money, it's just the easiest way to get rid of unwanted horses.
> 
> My old neighbors, who are from Italy, used to eat horse meat. Apparently they were able to get it somehow in Canada, I have no idea from where. It took us years to convince them that eating horses here wasn't a good idea for food safety reasons... But that's nothing, it also* took us years to convince them that it's a bad idea to eat wild mushrooms!* They're lucky to be alive.


It is certainly *not* a bad idea to eat wild mushrooms...it is *only* a bad idea to eat any mushroom you are unsure the identity of.


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## MillieSantana (Feb 17, 2013)

Well, to a lot of people, horses are just animals, like cows or sheep maybe. Animals raised for meat, nothing more, nothing less. to us, horses are life though, so many people have issues with slaughter. I'd probably try it!


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

ponyboy said:


> Sending horses to slaughter doesn't make a lot of money, it's just the easiest way to get rid of unwanted horses.
> 
> My old neighbors, who are from Italy, used to eat horse meat. Apparently they were able to get it somehow in Canada, I have no idea from where. It took us years to convince them that eating horses here wasn't a good idea for food safety reasons... But that's nothing, it also took us years to convince them that it's a bad idea to eat wild mushrooms! They're lucky to be alive.


They've got to be making decent money at it. The meat traders haul really big distances sometimes. If they just want to get rid of an unwanted horse you could just as easily shoot it and bury it. Why would people run Craigslist scams to get free horses and sell them to the meat man if there wasn't money in it?

So do horse breeds taste different?
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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

I've considered breeding a dairy breed to a meat breed.

A dairy heifer bottle calf is $100, meat breed calf is $400 minimum.

I have free breeding use of a Hereford bull in exchange for housing him here at my farm. So I could breed my $100 calf to a meat breed bull for free and get at least as much meat from her calf as if I paid to breed her to a dairy breed. As a bonus, I was reading about how you can pasture the dairy breed cow with her calf so she feeds it but also be able to milk the cow and either feed more calves or have the milk. That could enable me to buy more bottle calves since I wouldn't need the milk replacer as much.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I ate it years ago when it was sold here in the U.S. Ate it in homes of French immigrants.

I've probably eaten it since. At least that's what I was told was for supper. It's not illegal. We just don't have processing plants with USDA inspectors for commercial sale. I've eaten several meals with Indian friends, and the Indians I know have no compunction against eating horse. They just process it themselves.


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## Kati (Feb 24, 2013)

deserthorsewoman said:


> Must have been Bresaula. Or Carpacchio. Both raw.
> It is raised like cattle, certain breeds are considered meat breeds, the TPR( a draft) and the Murgese, very similar to a Friesian, tho smaller and a bit stockier.
> Supermarkets have it, packed, and marked, just like beef or pork.
> 
> I never ate the meat, I was tricked into eating bratwurst once. Have to admit, it was the best bratwurst I ever had. The meat is slightly sweet, I was told.


Sardinia  I am not sure what breed it was. You buy it in the supermarket alongside all the other meats. (The other main meat there is lamb and despite trying it countless times I still hate the taste) It is sweeter than most beef.
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## Tracer (Sep 16, 2012)

I would never eat it, because for some reason I can't handle eating any meat other than pure white chicken breast meat, and heavily processed beef aka McDonald's. I eat beef mince occasionally, but it has to have no meaty flavour whatsoever. I used to love my meat though, no idea what changed.

I can, however, fully handle the idea of animals being food on one condition - that they got there humanely. That goes for horses. So basically, in todays world I don't handle it extremely well because of all the evidence coming out of how animals can and do suffer. If they managed to enforce and/or improve the practice, I'd be fine with it.

As for people eating horses, to each their own. As I said above, I don't do meat, really, so I wouldn't try it, but the temptation would be there, and I would be fine with friends/family eating it in front of me.

I also name animals destined for slaughter. My father has a few friends who farm beef cattle and sheep, and I always name them. Names like Hamburger, Rissole, Scotch Fillet, Lamb, Chops, Bacon... And then there was Handbag, the adorable little lamb who was happy to be carried around by the excess skin on his back, hence the name. He ended up in our freezer.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

Horse....the new pink slime
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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Kati said:


> Sardinia  I am not sure what breed it was. You buy it in the supermarket alongside all the other meats. (The other main meat there is lamb and despite trying it countless times I still hate the taste) It is sweeter than most beef.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Oh, well then it could have been, more likely, their native Sardo or even a standardbred.......or even donkey....it says "equino"...equine:-/

I didn't buy much meat there...seeing entire chicken, feet, head, comb and all, neatly folded and packaged, or lambsheads, skinless....took my appetite away...


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## Kati (Feb 24, 2013)

deserthorsewoman said:


> Oh, well then it could have been, more likely, their native Sardo or even a standardbred.......or even donkey....it says "equino"...equine:-/
> 
> I didn't buy much meat there...seeing entire chicken, feet, head, comb and all, neatly folded and packaged, or lambsheads, skinless....took my appetite away...


I believe their ‘native‘ horses are protected now? Google time. But I believe most of the meat comes for northern Italy.
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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Possible. They are heavily promoting the Anglo arabo sardo.
I remember them bringing in Criollos from Argentina by the shipload into Napoli, Sicily has tons of surplus race horses. The meat breeds are from the north, you're right. Not much pasture down south.

Actually, doctors prescribe horsemeat for anemia, especially for children


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## Kati (Feb 24, 2013)

deserthorsewoman said:


> Possible. They are heavily promoting the Anglo arabo sardo.


I'm done stealing the thread after this  The Anglo-Arab Sardo is not protected but are quite popular there? I was thinking the little giara horses they have which are definitely protected. Or at least Dr. Google and most Sardinians tells me they're protected. The Sardinians are very proud of everything native so I imagine they're very protective off their little horses.

There's actually a large debate there right now because generally horse meat isn't allowed into processed foods (it's not very well regulated) and they've found it in a type of pasta.


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Kati said:


> I'm done stealing the thread after this  The Anglo-Arab Sardo is not protected but are quite popular there? I was thinking the little giara horses they have which are definitely protected. Or at least Dr. Google and most Sardinians tells me they're protected. The Sardinians are very proud of everything native so I imagine they're very protective off their little horses.
> 
> There's actually a large debate there right now because generally horse meat isn't allowed into processed foods (it's not very well regulated) and they've found it in a type of pasta.


Yeah, they do have a native smaller horse there. Other breeds to be protected were popping up everywhere, at least 3. Pony types. Good, tho.

With the meat scandal....I just read yesterday they're finding it now in Italy also....wow.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

That's what has made me wonder. These scandals keep hitting the news, the food is recalled and I presume destroyed, but SOMEONE out there has to be choosing horse eat or else why would they be processed for food at all?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Tarpan (May 6, 2012)

I have known a few horses that I would rather eat then ride. 

Just kidding, but I don't oppose slaughter and I would happily eat horse meat if it were an option. I do object to inhumane hauling tactics and meat tainted by drugs that haven't gone through the proper withdrawal time. I also believe people should know what kind of meat they're eating, not have it slipped in on them.


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## ponyboy (Jul 24, 2008)

FaydesMom said:


> It is certainly *not* a bad idea to eat wild mushrooms...it is *only* a bad idea to eat any mushroom you are unsure the identity of. :smile:



They apparently had no idea some mushrooms are poison They were just lucky. 





DancingArabian said:


> They've got to be making decent money at it. The meat traders haul really big distances sometimes. If they just want to get rid of an unwanted horse you could just as easily shoot it and bury it.



Much easier just to put it on a truck. And yes the kill buyers can make good money; the original of the horse don't, at least not compared to what it costs to raise a horse.


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## GallopingGuitarist (Jan 8, 2013)

One of my sisters and her husband use horse meat for their main meat. Her husband's brother works at an auction mart and he'll pick up a younger looking draft cross every once in a while to bring home for butcher. They kill it and cut it them selves. I personally would love to try horse meat. It's definitely on my bucket list. Obviously I don't want to go and shoot my horse and eat him, but I don't want to do that to my cow either. Those are my pets. 
I've helped cut up a horse for dog food. It was a riding horse that went and drown himself in a beaver dam in the winter. The butcher shop I worked at, sold raw pet food (ground pork, beef, chicken, wild game... what ever wasn't good enough for human consumption), we mixed the horse in with that. It was odd when you thought about it, but when you didn't it was just like cutting up a moose.


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

Given a choice I would not want to try horse meat. Same with dog meat. I dont really have any real reason why but I just wouldn't eat horse or dog meat just to try it. I don't think cat meat would taste very good but still interesting and I would probably try it if it was available...

My friends raised a beef cow and they named him Lucky. Lucky hamburgers tasted quite good!


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

JavaLover said:


> I, personally, would never eat horse meat. But then again, I don't eat cows or pigs either :/


Java I find it odd that you are going into a cattle handling program but don't eat beef. Every cowboy I worked and for ate what they raised 


Anyhow, I would eat horse, they are livestock. But I would have a hard time eating my little bay horse, I like him. But a Donner party situation could change that!
My HS art teacher confessed to shooting their horse, butchering it and feeding it to his family. Didn't tell them what it was exactly, but I guess it was pretty stringy.


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## Wanstrom Horses (Dec 23, 2012)

I've eaten it, not any of my own horses, but I have some friends out here at Simplots that when it came time to put their old ranch horses down, they went in the freezer. It's kinda stringy and dark, but pretty sweet and doesn't have a bad flavor at all, I'd prefer a nice beef steak, but it's not intolerable.


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

You know, SR, come to think about it....here dairies obviously produce their own heifers and cull nothing, I guess....Europe instead has breeders with premium cows who have to prove "milk performance" before being used to produce breeding stock. "Normal" dairies buy good heifers and use for milk only, and use the meat bull for weight as I mentioned above. Don't ask me which method makes more sense.....;-)
we used to live at a place in Germany who was the biggest dairy in the area and, when they gave up, sold all cows to the US for big money


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## 3PaintMares (Feb 19, 2013)

No never have and never will!!! I'm too much of a horse lover, make that a HUGE horse lover!!!! Just could never bring myself to do such a horrible thing. Matter of fact I rarely even eat meat anymore, I just don't have an apatite for it anymore. If I do it's just chicken breast(white meat) and bacon. I HATE horse slaughter places, you can pretty much bet that nearly every single one tortures the horse before it die's very painful death. It's just part of my morals to never eat horse meat, my set of directive's so to speak. Horse's to me are family, I don't consider horse's to be livestock. Horse's to me are like pets(like the family dog), IMO, horses should have similar rights as humans. If ya can't tell by now, I just love horses way too much.


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## Fahntasia (Dec 19, 2011)

I would not eat horse meat, I consider horses pets. If I was starving I would not eat my mare....doubt she would taste good anyhow she can be so mean ****!

I have an ex-boyfriend who tried tricking me into eating horse meat. He had BBQ'd some hamburgers one night, we sat down, I have this weird habit of smelling my food....yes odd..I know...I put down the burger, and told him the meat smelled funny, he told me to stop being silly, it was just extra lean beef, I told him no way this is beef, I know what cow meat smells like. (My grandfather was a butcher in germany) He finally fessed up after I refused to eat it, and said : Fine it's horse meat, it's good for you, I didn't tell you because I knew you would throw a fit, now eat it. I threw the burger at him and told him to GTFO lol! 

I will try most food's once, I draw the line at eating horse meat, I know horses are raised for slaughter in some countries and that some people still consider them livestock. If there was only horse meat as a meat alternative, I would turn vegetarian.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

3PaintMares said:


> I HATE horse slaughter places, you can pretty much bet that nearly every single one tortures the horse before it die's very painful death.


Hyperbole much there, Paint? What makes you believe EVERY SINGLE slaughter house tortures animals before they die? :?

The true facts are if the animal is tortured, beaten, abused or just plain stressed out prior to death, they have an adrenaline dump, which _ruins_ the meat. Which means the slaughter house just lost money.

So no, I hardly think those who work in slaughter houses are degenerates who just LOVE to torture animals. :-x

You claim to be an adult male, but your hysterical rantings are more reminiscent of a hormonal teenage girl.


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## GallopingGuitarist (Jan 8, 2013)

3PaintMares said:


> No never have and never will!!! I'm too much of a horse lover, make that a HUGE horse lover!!!! Just could never bring myself to do such a horrible thing. Matter of fact I rarely even eat meat anymore, I just don't have an apatite for it anymore. If I do it's just chicken breast(white meat) and bacon. I HATE horse slaughter places, you can pretty much bet that nearly every single one tortures the horse before it die's very painful death. It's just part of my morals to never eat horse meat, my set of directive's so to speak. Horse's to me are family, I don't consider horse's to be livestock. Horse's to me are like pets(like the family dog), IMO, horses should have similar rights as humans. If ya can't tell by now, I just love horses way too much.


As someone said before me, not all horse slaughter places are cruel. And a 'horse slaughter' place is just the same as a regular butcher shop. I worked in a butcher shop for a little over a year, I still love animals and have never been cruel to one (at least in my knowledge). I have cut up thousands of animals. Pigs, cows, elk, deer, moose, chickens, turkeys, sheep, rabbits, and one horse. 
When cutting up wild game I've noticed, if the animal was taken done by one shot and it was dead before it hit the ground (best meat saving shots, high on the neck and in the eye. If done correctly one of these will drop an animal straight away) then the meat wasn't any different than beef. But if the animal was stressed, (running, shot a couple times) we would end up chucking almost the whole thing and what we could salvage we knew would be tough and taste horrible. 
If an animal is stressed with in the last couple days of it's life, the meat won't be any good. So no, the butcher shops aren't going to abuse the animals before they butcher them because that would be stupid on their part. 
Also that chicken you eat, unless it's free range out on the grass raised (not from the super market), it's had a worse life than most of the horses you are worried about.
I'm all for a good life for animals. I'm not for not killing them, I'm for how happy was that animal when it was alive ad how humanely can I kill it, when it comes time to feed the world.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Regula (Jan 23, 2012)

ponyboy said:


> Sending horses to slaughter doesn't make a lot of money, it's just the easiest way to get rid of unwanted horses.
> 
> My old neighbors, who are from Italy, used to eat horse meat. Apparently they were able to get it somehow in Canada, I have no idea from where. It took us years to convince them that eating horses here wasn't a good idea for food safety reasons... But that's nothing, it also took us years to convince them that it's a bad idea to eat wild mushrooms! They're lucky to be alive.



Most Canadian horse slaughterhouses are EU certified, cause they export their meat to Europe. So from a food safety standpoint, most Canadian horse meat is perfectly safe by European standards.
Canada is the biggest importer of horse meat in Switzerland and Germany, so I don't see why it would be a bad idea for Europeans to eat horse meat "at the source".


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## 3PaintMares (Feb 19, 2013)

Yeah I guess I let my emotions on horses speak for me rather then better part of me. I tired, can't sleep and guess what I human we screw up, it happens. Yes alot of these places I'm sure humanly take care of the animal. At-least I hope so. With that said I'm sure there are few that don't and they need to be found and shut down. If people wanna eat horse meat, your life, your right. Just kill the poor thing quickly and humanly. Did get a kick out of the "Hormonal teenage girl" rant. 
As for another poster comments on chickens etc. If I eat meat, I buy it locally from people I know. I don't buy meat from the stores cause who knows where it came from. Plus I can support local farm/butcher shops.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I have eaten horse meat. It wasn't bad, but I prefer beef. I don't get all sentimental about stuff like that. Would I eat one of my own horses? No, not unless something apocalyptic happened and I was starving (which is unlikely because we have billions of deer and turkey around here and I have a gun). But, if horse meat was sold in supermarkets and was half the price of beef, I would probably buy it instead.

I guess it's just the rational adult in me, but I honestly don't get what the big deal is. Horses are prey animals...we are predators. If you take out the fluffy emotional side of it, horses are absolutely no different than cattle or sheep or chickens or pigs or any other animal that people eat.

I don't understand why we are shipping perfectly good meat to Mexico or Canada, where it may be shipped to some foreign country to end up on a plate in some fancy restaurant or it may end up wasted. We've got hundreds of thousands of people here in the US that are starving. People who are living on Ramen noodles and Spam and simply don't have the money to buy actual meat. Why can't we re-open the slaughterhouses, make the requirements for care and handling a bit more strict, and start selling it in grocery stores at a lower price per pound than beef?

That would solve a lot of problems in this country. The hungry would have a cheap red meat available to them, the horse market might actually get a bottom again, horses that are currently starving to death in pastures all across the country might actually get fed up and fattened to get maximum sale price at the auction, and we wouldn't be able to find people giving away nicely bred and well broke horses on every equine sale site, and horses would no longer be left to starve or turned loose on public land just because their owner couldn't afford to feed them and nobody would take them,even for free, because they weren't broke or well bred.


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## Wanstrom Horses (Dec 23, 2012)

Amen Smrobs.. I totally agree. I see absolutely NOTHING wrong with eating a horse and having slaughter plants in the U.S.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I mistakenly bought horse meat when I was living in germany (My vocab was still very limited to 'point and request' then) Its nothing like venison at all - hardly any different to beef actually But you have to remember that the horses bred for meat in those parts of Europe are exactly the same as beef cattle - slaughtered young and not given any banned drugs. The sort of horses that are getting into food illegally are what you'd compare to 'casualty stock' in cattle and could have all sorts of diseases and be full of all sorts of medications.
Not the same thing


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## Iseul (Mar 8, 2010)

I've wanted to try it for awhile..I won't eat my barrel horse that is a majority of lean muscle..but I'd have no qualms about eating a pasture puff, probably a lot tastier.
I don't like real lean meat, not as much flavour as say..65/35% meat.

Eventually if I have enough land I'll get some easy keeping porkers to leave in a back pasture and bring up to slaughter myself when we need to restock the freezer, with some beef cattle in the mix as well.
Not sure if it's legal to do such with horses..but I can't see any good reason for it to be illegal either. I can sell the beef and eat the horse. *shrugs*

There is one horse that I could never slaughter..she'd have been my riding partner until she was done, and then she would be left to retire without any shots or such to be slaughtered when it was time to be put down if she stayed healthy enough without any supplements or medication. If she couldn't stay healthy on pasture without such, she would be shot amd either burned or buried when it was time for her to go.

While I would probably not buy horse from the supermarket, if I new the farmers and such or was at a restraunt, why not? Has to be safe or I can sue the restraunt with good reason and win.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Tarpan (May 6, 2012)

There's something kind of primal about the thought of eating horse... it can be an all-consuming passion for some people, so why can't the horse nourish the body as well as the spirit?


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## sxybeemr (Feb 25, 2013)

smrobs said:


> I have eaten horse meat. It wasn't bad, but I prefer beef. I don't get all sentimental about stuff like that. Would I eat one of my own horses? No, not unless something apocalyptic happened and I was starving (which is unlikely because we have billions of deer and turkey around here and I have a gun). But, if horse meat was sold in supermarkets and was half the price of beef, I would probably buy it instead.


This thread is quiet interesting. I believe it is a personal choice to eat or not eat horse meat. Just like vegetarians, they chose not to eat meat for personal reasons/beliefs. I am not against horse slaughter as long as it is done in a humane way. Smrobs, I quoted your post as you said you'd never eat one of your own horse unless some apocaliptic happened and you were starving. I was once chatting with the owner of a breeding farm. She was the sweetest lady ever and took care of our brood mares and other horses. They had a wonderful farm and it was easy to tell they loved their animals. She once told me horse meat was delicious but she would never eat random horse meat you find at the grocery store (In Canada, they sell it at certain stores). The only horse meat she would eat was her own horse. My face probably turned pale white at that moment:shock:, but she proceeded to explain that she had a horse that was sick. The horse had some sort of disease where you could not put a saddle on, or a harness, or a halter, or anything as the hair would just fall off and it would turn to flesh. This horse was therefore no good to race, to ride... So she sent her 2 yo horse to the slaughter and ate her own horse. Her reasoning behind it was that before you send a horse to slaughter, you have to sign a paper advising you have not given any specific medication(s) to your horse. So it is safe for humane consumption. She said a lot of people just sign it, even if it's false. They do not check or verify the information, it's just a signaure away, stating you didn't give your horse A B C or D. So that way, by eating her own horse meat, she knows her horse was never given bute or anything else you would not want to eat. I guess it sort of made sense... Like she said, she knows how her horses were raised with proper care, they were raised good. She would clearly not slaughter a horse just to eat it. But if it came down to it, where she had to for a reason or another, she would and eat them..lol...And she was absolutely firm about never eating a random horse, since you never know what was injected into them... I personally eat fish, chicken, beef, lamb(So delicious, one of my favorites), pork, deer, mose... but horse.. I don't know... I'd maybe try it if I had the chance. I probably wouldn't be the one ordering a horse steak, but I'd try a bite. :wink:


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I do have a sentimentality regarding my _own_ horses and that's why I couldn't eat one of them. I just couldn't bear to do it because I _do_ love them LOL.

I can understand where the woman is coming from though, with knowing exactly what the horses have been given and what diseases they've had (I suspect the horse she had suffered from HERDA), but as it is right now, there is going to be lingering "impurities" in just about every meat that you don't buy from a private grower. You'd be surprised at the diseases and illnesses that milk cows suffer from because they can't be given medications as the meds will leach into the milk...talk about some nasty stuff.

If horse slaughter/meat here in the US was treated with the same sense as they treat beef, then there would be feedlots set up where the horses would be fattened up, treated for illness/injury....and housed until they were beyond the residue withdrawal period before being shipped off to slaughter. 

Just for example, I happen to have a bottle of Nuflor handy for the cattle we keep in the summer. On the back of the bottle is this:



> Residue Warnings: Animals intended for human consumption must not be slaughtered within 28 days of the last intramuscular treatment and animals intended for human consumption must not be slaughtered within 38 days of the last subcutaneous treatment. Do not use in female dairy cattle 20 months of age or older. Use of florfenicol in this class of cattle may cause milk residues. A withdrawal period has not been established in preruminating calves. Do not use in calves to be processed for veal.


I've worked in a feedlot and every time a cow is given a shot of _anything_, there is a record of it with the sole purpose being to prevent the cow going to slaughter before they have gone past their withdrawal periods.

I've heard the spiel that Bute in horses will stay in their system and taint the meat forever, but I have a hard time believing that. Unless there has been some extensive study by a reputable agency that I missed, I'm going to continue to chalk that up to anti-slaughter propaganda.


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