Horse meat

I am not sure why some feel the need to eat it. Sheep, cows, pigs etc in the main are farmed to eat and that is about it
Click to expand...

As are horses in other countries (I'm thinking about France in particular), goats, ostrich's etc.

It's just not normal practice for this country any longer to eat horse flesh. However, it's only 60 years ago that it was very normal.......
 
heidirusso said:
But you can never be sure, apparently if the meat is packed in this country is can be labled as British. Doesn't matter if it came from Asia!!
Click to expand...

Thats why live transport occurs all over europe- because if a horse sets foot off the ramp alive in e.g. Italy (one of the biggest consumers of horse meat) the meat can be called home grown. 'Home grown' meat attracts a premium price. So the poor horse has to endure travelling thousands of miles with no food and water all in the name of a loophole in the law.
 
heidirusso said:
Good, wish more people were like that. But you can never be sure, apparently if the meat is packed in this country is can be labled as British. Doesn't matter if it came from Asia!!
Click to expand...

Well if people went to thier proper local butcher, you would be assured of where it is from!
 
wench said:
Well if people went to thier proper local butcher, you would be assured of where it is from!
Click to expand...

Its a shame (and completely shocked me!) that all the pork and bacon in the butchers ive been to in aber is from various parts of europe!!! and is still way to expensive for my student budget really...

Co-op sausages all the way! cheap, british, outdoor, and it even tells you the breed of pig on the packet! :D
 
I'm a meat eater and I couldn't eat horse meat - the same as I couldn't eat dog or cat meat.

I have a different relationship with my horses - they're more like pets compared to the relationship I have with our flock of sheep. I don't eat lamb at all - I don't like it. My OH doesn't eat lamb during lambing but once that's out of the way lamb is reintroduced for Sunday dinner.

But then again, I feel guilty when I have to help load our lambs up for market.

However after being kicked by a cow on my knee and causing me intense pain for about 2 month I have no problem eating beef.
 
wench said:
Well if people went to thier proper local butcher, you would be assured of where it is from!
Click to expand...
Actually, unless the butcher's shop is attached to/owned by an abattoir the situation is not much different than in supermarket or worse, because small butchers buy from wholesalers.
Co-op is by far the best for locally sourced and well labelled meat.
 
wench said:
Well if people went to thier proper local butcher, you would be assured of where it is from!
Click to expand...

Well, I once spoke to a local butcher in regards to buying meat for someone else and they didn't offer anything organic or anything in the way of welfare checked/that type of thing. So it's not necessarily the 'best' option, i,e guarantee's you it's the best choice.
 
Ive been kicked by a horse and had my jaw broken.. but thats not made me more or less willing to eat horse meat lol..

Ive been kicked by a cow too but id eat it either way lol

Lou x
 
I appear to share the same view as many of you. I wouldn't choose to eat horse meat simply because I have been brought up to see horses as pets and as a sort of companion. However, I don't see that it's really any different to people eatings cows, sheep, pigs etc. and have nothing against it if they are raised and slaughtered humanely.

I'm sure that if I'd had kept cows as pets for years and had groomed them, fed them, treated them as pets and enjoyed their company then I wouldn't eat beef. I would be very distressed to see a horse sent off for slaughter but I think I would feel the same about seeing any animal in that situation! I do now and then have pangs of guilt when I see an adorable lamb in a field, knowing how delicious it would taste, but I'm afraid meat eating is part of my nature and I don't have the willpower or need to stop. I would avoid trying horse meat if possible but I'm sure it tastes delicious (I have a French boyfriend who has only eaten horse meat once but assures me that it was basically the best steak ever).
 
kerilli said:
hear hear. it's the quality of the animals' lives, and the humane manner of their deaths, that's most important.

we should be encouraging people to eat horsemeat. shorter journeys for horses to go to abbatoirs, better value for horses going to slaughter, would hopefully lead to a slight shortage of horses, them all being worth more, and therefore higher welfare levels.
Click to expand...

Baa to the both of you, especially regarding chicken. And moo, neigh and cluck too.

My father used to work in an abbatoir and if you can't handle how meat of any form gets to your plate, then don't eat it, folks!

As I said on another thread, you can't just eat the ugly (and stupid?) ones.

I like your point Lou, I shall steal it!!!
 
It doesn't bother me at all, to be honest. As lots of people have already said, provided it has been reared, transported and slaughtered humanely, I don't really see it as an issue. Although, I like to think that I could kill and prepare any meat I eat myself, but I'm not sure if I could with a horse. Either way, I'd still eat it.
 
CaveCanem said:
Baa to the both of you, especially regarding chicken. And moo, neigh and cluck too.

My father used to work in an abbatoir and if you can't handle how meat of any form gets to your plate, then don't eat it, folks!

As I said on another thread, you can't just eat the ugly (and stupid?) ones.

I like your point Lou, I shall steal it!!!
Click to expand...

So do these animals not deserve a good life and humane death? Why is it acceptable to keep a pig in a metal cage no bigger than itself, with a slatted floor?

I dont actually eat meat! But i have no problem with others doing so as long as the welfare of the animal is sufficient. And by that i dont mean allowing chickens to be reared so quickly that they get ammonia burns on their hocks from their own ****. I have no problem with people eating horses, chickens, sheep, whatever if its ethically produced. So i dont get your point?
 
CaveCanem said:
Baa to the both of you, especially regarding chicken. And moo, neigh and cluck too.

My father used to work in an abbatoir and if you can't handle how meat of any form gets to your plate, then don't eat it, folks!

As I said on another thread, you can't just eat the ugly (and stupid?) ones.
Click to expand...

what's that supposed to mean? I only eat humanely raised and kept meat. I won't eat battery eggs, or non free-range poultry. I can handle how it gets to my plate, but if it hasn't had a very good quality of life, I won't eat it.
That doesn't make me a sheep, thanks.
 
I think if horses had been farmed like cows or sheep and were pretty wild then I would find I had no problem with it, but knowing I may be eating a horse that has been someone's pet and has fallen on bad times and ended up going for meat then I would feel differently.

Personally I doubt I will ever eat horse meat, or dog or cat meat.

I can see horse steak sandwiches being sold on race day though, far too many unwanted TB's out there and a quick buck for the trainers lol sorry - couldn't help it!
 
As long as it is humainly slaughtered and reared then I do not have a problem with eating the meat and have done so before, it is quite a strong meat and so possibly not everyones taste. What i might have a problem with is someones one loved first pony being taken to slaughter and ending up on my plate. For starters it would taste very tough and secondly i can think of more dignafied ways to repay the poor pony's long life of dedication to children than to eat it. Just too add as well that i also only eat british meat where it specifies the farm it was raised on and that it is free range.
 
Jeez Kerilli, I was agreeing with you. And Teddyt I was saying that a lot of people who are getting upset by the thought of eating horsemeat should look at where the meat they DO eat comes from.

Lou, about the eyes.
 
kerilli I thought CC was agreeing wth both of you that humane raising of the meat was of the greater importance.

I would have no problem eating horse, and as my office is currently situated above a (small) abattoir! :p It is interesting to note that slaughtering animals that are stressed benefits nobody and is not good for the meat produced so its much better to keep them as chilled as possible beforehand.
 
JVB said:
I think if horses had been farmed like cows or sheep and were pretty wild then I would find I had no problem with it, but knowing I may be eating a horse that has been someone's pet and has fallen on bad times and ended up going for meat then I would feel differently.

Personally I doubt I will ever eat horse meat, or dog or cat meat.

I can see horse steak sandwiches being sold on race day though, far too many unwanted TB's out there and a quick buck for the trainers lol sorry - couldn't help it!
Click to expand...

It's fairly unlikely that you would be eating somebody's pet horse as in order to make a decent quality meet they do have to be fairly young and definitely drug free. If an old pet makes it into human consumption at all, the highest it can go would probably be mince or dodgy kebab or Tesco value sausages, together with used toilet roll:D
 
CaveCanem said:
Jeez Kerilli, I was agreeing with you. And Teddyt I was saying that a lot of people who are getting upset by the thought of eating horsemeat should look at where the meat they DO eat comes from.

Lou, about the eyes.
Click to expand...

I see now, i just couldnt understand what you meant. Glad we agree :)
 
I've eaten horse meat, and ostrich and kangaroo tail! It is unlikely that anybody's little old Welshie is going to end up on someone's plate. It is way too old and tough for any chef to consider using it in a bistro. Like the poor natives herded off the moors to market every year, it would be put in a tin of Pedigree Chum or whatever. It may say beef, or chicken on the label,but look at the % and it is very little. Alot of the rest is pony meat. I grew up playing out with cattle, but I still quite happily ate roast beef on Sundays. I knew those bullocks had a lovely life munching our grass, and a quick trip to the abbatoir 18 months later. In France, draft type neds are kept in herds just like cattle. What is the problem? What I absolutely disagree with is terrible husbandry (so I won't eat veal or battery anything on principle) and long distance live transport. Meat should be transported on a hook, not on the hoof. It is well known that stress can drastically affect the quality of meat anyway. Oh and salami - years ago I watched a programme on TV and it showed that donkey meat was a regular inclusion. Poor things were shipped in from all over Europe.
 
I wouldn't like to eat my own horse as I see her as a pet.
Now the one that tried to eat my hand this morning, that's a different matter all together :p :D.
 
I agree with the majority. So long as the animal was humanely treated I don't have a problem with it but I probably wouldn't eat it myself.

What exactly disgusts you about horsemeat? Are you equally disgusted by other meats?

I think the suggestion that horses are going to start being stolen from fields to supply a trade in the wake of a restaurant selling horsemeat is ridiculous!
 
All I can say is that it isn't illegal, and it is entirely a personal choice whether you eat it or not. I don't like turkey in any shape or form, living or on a plate, so I choose not to eat it. I am not sure what could be done other than voicing your opinion by not dining there.

I can't get my head around what is so wrong with horse meat, just because we like horses. I like goats and cows too, but I rear both specifically for meat (which means they don't get named and although have every care and a good life they are not raised as pets) I send them off to the butcher, they come home in packets the next day.
 
Last edited:
A lot of you are saying as long as it is raised and killed humanely then it's fine. To be honest, very little meat is raised and transported humanely. There are a few people who state that they only eat free range meat, one that only specifies pultry etc. Well done to these people. But if you are going to say you will only eat horse meat if it is humane... you should look at what the rest of your meat goes through. I agree with those who have said similar above.

I'm veggie btw so would not eat horse meat. But i see no probelm with it, it is probably better than 99% of the rest of the meat which passes through abattoirs in regards to how it was raised.

ETA: Those of you who 'don't eat badly reared meat'... do you check this in any frozen food if you eat this, do you check in all cafes and restaurants and pre packed sandwiches? I think a lot of people will find that they actually do eat badly reared meat. But if you are thorough then well done to you.
 
Last edited:
Nailed said:
Have you seen humans teeth? they are the teeth of an omnivore..
Do humans have eyes on the side of the head.. NO cause we are hunters.

Prey animals should be eaten.. Predators should not. AKA. dogs/cats/foxes/lions/tigres.. NO

horses, sheep,deer, goat, pig, cow. YAY!

Vegi or not.. humans are still designed to be omnivores.

Lou x
Click to expand...

Ah yes, but what is one animals prey may be another's predator too! ;-)

I think the issue is we have evolved (thankfully, although in some ways maybe we think we've evolved more than we have but that's another issue!) and we took it upon ourselves to do something different with horses than merely breed and rear them for meat so I think that is why it seems wrong to some people. I think there is mroe emotion linked to a horse as many do have them as pets and often people comment on their horse's 'personality' and intelligence. Just then seems odd to be happy to then eat it as well.

But then everyone has different views. I would never send my horse to a slaughter house, I just wouldn't as any of the horses I've had would have been as much pets as they were pleasure/competition animals and I feel I owe it to them to give them a dignified end when it comes. I would not want cash for my horse's carcass and I guess I do struggle to understand those that do.

I guess that's how we have evolved, to have more compassion and not just see an animal as a piece of meat. As an example - pick a recently deceased top competition horse that dies of an injury (yeah you know the ones that are often posted about on here "RIP so and so, what an amazing horse..."etc etc). What would the general consensus be if it was then posted on H&H that that horse had now been butchered and steaks were being sold for '£x' amount at your local restaurant? I wonder how well that would be taken or whether people would happily eat it knowing it's history and how it died (ie, it was well treated, killed humanely)?

What would be your opinion, in all honesty, if that did happen?
 
Ah yes, but even when a predator become the prey it is still fundimentally a predator.. obviously the exception is the pig. but there omnivores like us, so not completely carnivourous!

Lou x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top