Horses for meat - Yes or No?

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www.skeltonhorses.co.uk
Just a question for the breeding forum I did pose a similar question on the New lounge last year.

With the dearth of unwanted horses here in the UK should we start eating them?What does the forum think on the subject of eating horses. If a horse has had a good life and is humanely slaughtered here in UK then exported for meat to the Continent - why is this right/wrong? and why don't we eat horseflesh here in the UK. Is is not really any different to an agricultural meat animal - except we ride them etc.

Please understand I am NOT in favour of 'live' export. But we could be heading for problems 'horse wise' and 'horses for meat' is a viable alternative if handled properly and more importantly 'humainly'
 
I personally couldn't eat horse, the same as I couldn't eat dog but don't think I'm a bunny hugger, I'm not, nothing could be further from the truth. We have cattle, pigs and hens here, I'll happily eat them but not horsemeat, no thank you; they are too personal to me (even though it wouldn't be my horse I was eating). I have no problem with horse meat being generally available, just not for me and I think a lot of people will see it the same way.
 
yup - i'd happily eat horse

i eat meat so in for a penny in for a pound - i wont put one type of animals life as having more value than another - to me that's hypicritical.

but i do care about humane living conditions, travelling and slaughter - for me that's more of an issue
 
I would like to know what it tastes like - but without having to eat it!!
I dont think horse farms would work in the UK, I dont think there is a market for it.
 
posie_honey said:
yup - i'd happily eat horse

i eat meat so in for a penny in for a pound - i wont put one type of animals life as having more value than another - to me that's hypicritical.

but i do care about humane living conditions, travelling and slaughter - for me that's more of an issue
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Ditto ^^^

I am French, so I have eaten horse meat. As a teenager, I felt I couldn't reconcile spending most of my time caring for horses and then eating them for dinner, so I stopped.

But as a 40 year old woman, I think my "principles" are a little less polarised, a little more balanced and rounder round the edges ;)

When I was a teenager in France, there were very few horses actually bred for meat, because it takes 2-3 years before there is enough meat on a horse to make it worth slaughtering. The meat market was very much fed by unwanted/injured riding horses and failed race horses.

I had the most enlightening, but also slightly disturbing chat with a riding club owner a few years ago, when I went for a ride on the beach in South Western France. He explained that the BSE crisis changed the traditional balance of the horse meat market. A lot of people replaced their beef consumption with horse meat and as a result of very increased demand, horse meat prices shot up, making the average riding horse with not much potential much more valuable as a steak. He himself bought a handful of horses off the racetrack at the beginning of the high tourist season and sold them to the meat man at the end of the summer... so that very sweet 4 year old TB I just had a fab gallop on the beach on, might very well be on someone's plate in October, if he didn't do well in the young horse SJ classes...

The issue is not the rights or wrongs of eating horse meat. The issue is what a market-driven industry pushes less scrupulous people to do for money.

I'm not sure I can morally ever come to terms with that...
 
I would be happy to eat horsemeat as long as they are reared and slaughtered humanely,
I have wondered why horse farming hasnt been thought of as being much greener than cattle and sheep farming as they dont ruminate so dont produce as much methane .
 
i have no problem with horses for meat but (very hypocritically) i dont know if i would be able to eat horse meat.. but i would have no issue with it being sold for human consumption (for other people!)
 
i would try it but dnt think i would liek the taste.
it would be far kinder to some unwanted horses to be slaughtered then past from pillar to post / not being looked after correctly etc.
and if it it done correctly and transported correctly then it is fine.
you cant eat cows/pigs/sheep etc and favour horses.
 
No i wouldn't eat horse meat. I interact with them everyday so I know they have personalities, intelligence etc etc.

I don't interact with any cows, sheep or pigs tbh but I don't eat a lot of red meat anyway.

I don't object to others if they want to eat it but for me its a no no. I couldn't / wouldn't eat dogs either, the thought is repulsive.
 
Pigs are deemed third most intelligent animals in the world. And they are very humanised in their ways. Noone thinks of that when they tuck into their roast.

why should it be any different. i would eat horsemeat, and i adore horses. I also adore the cows grazing outside my garden, they have claves at the moment and they are the cutest. id still eat veal though. And i wish it was more readily available.

i think its so hypocritical to say you wouldnt eat horse because 'it has a personality-intelligence''. All living things have a degree of that.
 
No I wouldn't eat horse meat. It doesn't make me a hypocrite either. Just because you eat meat it doesn't mean any meat is fair game. To my my mind there's no difference between horses and dogs, both are man partner animals and they aren't traditionally eaten. Someone will always say 'what about France'. and yes they eat dogs in enough places too. It doesn't make it right.
 
ThePinkPony said:
Pigs are deemed third most intelligent animals in the world. And they are very humanised in their ways. Noone thinks of that when they tuck into their roast.

why should it be any different. i would eat horsemeat, and i adore horses. I also adore the cows grazing outside my garden, they have claves at the moment and they are the cutest. id still eat veal though. And i wish it was more readily available.

i think its so hypocritical to say you wouldnt eat horse because 'it has a personality-intelligence''. All living things have a degree of that.
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I suppose for me though I only interact with horses so have little / no knowledge of other farm animals. If I had a pet cow though I prob wouldn't eat beef either or likewise if I had a KunePig I wouldn't eat pork. I'm not too fussed about eating meat so prob not such an issue for me.
 
yes, at the end of the day they are a no higher rank than cattle or swine ect....

i have & prob will eat it again, i have grown up around cattle & pigs being reared & slaughtered for consumption & still happily eat meat even knowing which animal it came from.

but its all about public perseption, in some countries they eat eqines with not a second thought but would consider it horrifyinig to kill & eat cattle ect.

Horse's for corses and all (sorry about the pun there)
 
i dont think i could eat my own horse - but who can tell - put me on crashed plane in the Andes & god knows what i might eat [ i suspect a cultural reference tht aonly works for the more aged amongst us:)]

I have no particular strong views on meat eating - either you eat meat or you dont - it was all once alive & cute:)
 
Why not? if there's a market opportunity, you might as well!
Horse would go well alongside the Crocodile and Ostrich (sp?) that I've already eaten!

I wouldn't mind eating some of the red rotten, good for nothing, wouldn't jump out of your way, nags of things I've experienced in this business!
 
No I could not eat a horse, I have sent a horse to be eaten on the hook way back when, so I am not worried about anyone else eating horse, I cant eat anything I have looked after I guess I would be a terrible farmer or wife to one! I would no more think about eating my dog or a cat for that matter, as I see them as part of our culture we went to war on them they got eaten but only when there was no other options.
we dont ride pigs, sheep or cattle we have never as a nation has a relationship with cattle or sheep or pigs the way we do with horses.thats what make it difficult for us we dont grow up reading black beauty the bull calf! in my view its the romanticism of the horse which seperates it from the species we do eat
 
If and its a big IF but if the horse in question had lived a good life and were slaughtered humanely then I don't see it as any different to eating any other meat. What i do object to is the transportation of lifestock to slaughter, and obviously this is what worries most people. And more and more we hear about kosher/halal meat and the debate this ensues. So there would be a lot of points to consider. But i think the horsemeat in question would have to come from farmed animals and not from retired family pets. The whole reason I have always requested my horses have been incinerated after death is so they don't end up in the food chain, even if the food chain is only dogs. But those are just my personal thoughts.
 
I don't care for the taste or texture of horsemeat so it's not something I'd go out of my way to eat again. In the same light, I don't care for the taste or texture of ostrich meat and I hate the smell and taste of lamb and venison. If I did like the taste of horsemeat however then yes I'd buy it and make pony pies out of it.
 
I dont have any issues with horses being used for meat, but i myself wouldnt eat it again. (apparently i had it as a 10 year old in France, i just remember eating what i thought was a beef steak).
I do eat meat - however, i am a fuddy duddy! I dont eat any pig produce - i have NEVER tried bacon even (that normally suprises people), the smell of bacon, ham, pork etc makes me want to vomit and i cant be around it - why am i like this.... Well from a young age i have loved pigs, i dont own one (parents and now hubby wont let me).
I have never had rabbit (had rabbits as pets), duck etc.
The only meat i do eat is Turkey (really want to raise my own one year for Christmas... but would i get too 'attached'), Chicken, Beef and thats it.
I have had Alligator in the past and would happily have that again.

As long as the animals in question dont suffer and are treated with dignity and respect, i have no issues if there was an increase in eating horsemeat here in the UK, but i wouldnt be eating it.
 
I have eaten it & it is supposed to be better for you then beef. So long as it is all humane, I do not see the difference between this and any other animal that gets served up on a plate. We had not problems with eating them in the war! Ok you can argue there was no choice, had to survive. I just think it comes down to how they are kept & then disposed of, I would hate to see them farmed, sorry, but farming is about profit & animal welfare is not always taken into account.
 
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