horses for meat

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bugbee717

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with all these french horse posts it got me thinking

i personally like some of these breeds.

BUT
if we did breed horses in this county for meat, which one would we breed, and why ?

i mean a chicken is a chicken

the sheep at our farm all seem brain dead and a cow is a cow and pigs to me are just aweful
(sorry to all the farmer of you out there i am sure they have some difference)

but how do you choose one breed over another, because at the end of they day you could over feed a tb and it would get fat the same as a section a say

before anyone asks yes i do eat meat, but if tesco started putting nice little calf next to the beef, i might not
 
No, a chicken is not just a chicken, if you kept a few you would know - and people I know who keep sheep say they have personalities. And pigs are similar and trainable in personality to dogs but just without the cute fur.

It would be nice to think they didn't have any brains and therefore its ok to treat them as irresponsible, ignorantly and lazily as we like and they don't care.

So if you like to spend you time imagining eating random horses - well maybe the sheep are nicer if not brainier.
 
In all animals the breeds differ, be it sheep or cows or chicken, therefore the meat differs as well.
The trick with feeding animal for meat is to make it to produce a lot of muscle, not just fat, the draught breeds in horses are better for that purpose than a TB - it is a bit wirey...
The same with cattle - Holstein Fresians make rubbish steaks, a Hereford is much better
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you miss my point
yes i eat meat
yes these animal form our food chain, some people think that is right some dont it is a personal choice which you choose, and every one has that right.
it would be silly to think these animals dont have brains, pigs are very clever animals i just personally dont like them.

but why in the uk do we not eat horse, snails, dogs
and if we did
which of our breeds would we choose and why of horse that is
 
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see the breeds i like, its just not fair !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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You know what, I'll tell you a little story:
Not that many years ago the cattle breed of Aberdeen Angus was threatened with extinction, no matter how many efforts were made to keep the gene pool going by having it protected, the number of animals was constantly decreasing... until somebody clever realised that the best way to preserve the breed is to make people eat it and designed marketing campaign for pure bred Angus meat - if there is demand, people will breed them.
Last year the breed was taken of the endangered register
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There are very few Suffolk Punches for example and not many breeders can be persuaded to preserve the breed, it's just not financially viable...
 
Well some people do eat horses in the UK, as do many people eat snails. People don't eat dog because you would be breaking the Law by killing it. I am not sure but I heard somewhere that it is illegal to sell horsemeat in Britain but not illegal to eat it.

Breeds that commonly go for meat over here are Quarter Horses, Percherons, Belgians, Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds.
 
We don't eat horses and snails or frogs legs in this country because we have never been under seige.
The French peasantry were forced into eating snails and frogs simply because they were so poor.
The French also got a taste for horsemeat during Napoleons retreat from Moscow when the cavalry ate their horses to survive and during the siege of Paris during the Franco Prussian was when the Parisians ate just about everything.
 
i eat horse.....


most members know my points of view on these type of threads....

i couldn't care less what i fed my family as long as it is reared/transported/slaughtered in a HUMANE MANNER.
 
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i couldn't care less what i fed my family as long as it is reared/transported/slaughtered in a HUMANE MANNER.

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Here here. The point is not what we eat, it's about how we treat all animals, whether they're in the food chain or not.
 
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i eat horse.....


most members know my points of view on these type of threads....

i couldn't care less what i fed my family as long as it is reared/transported/slaughtered in a HUMANE MANNER.

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Out of curiosity do you eat it in the UK or just overseas?
 
here......

not that often..half a dozen times a year.

fillet is best...it tastes like venison...except the fat, which there is very little, is yellower.
 
The French Percheron was originally bred as a meat horse. Anyone who has a horse that is a 'good doer' will understand that in the days before mechanised farming, food was hard to grow and preserve during the winter.

Horses provide more meat per acre of grass because it is possible to fatten a horse on poor grazing.

I don't ever intend to eat horse-meat. I am fussy about all the meat I eat and support the concept humanity in world farming. I am in total agreement with Celebrity Chefs who have highlighted the plight of farm animals. In France Label Rouge products are equivalent to RSPCA Freedom Foods but all of Europe has a long way to go.
 
I have no problem with horses being eaten - it would be hypocritical as I eat cows, pigs and sheep. I have never tried it though, I can't bring myself to although I would try it if I knew it had been treated well.
 
There is a religious reason too why we don't eat horse meat, although I can't remember exactly what it is. I think it is something to do with pagan practices, when a new chieften would have a "bath" in a pony stew.
 
I cannot understand why people get so hysterical about the concept of eating horses. If they are farmed for the purpose and treated and killed humanely, why is it any different to eating cows/sheep/pigs? Admittedly I don't like the idea of ex-riding horses being sent abroad for meat, mainly because of how they are treated, but I can't see the problem if they are bred for the purpose. And anyway, better that a horse goes for slaughter rather than being pushed from pillar to post because they are unwanted/unsuitable.

Why "rescue" a horse from Franch (!) that wasn't actually being starved or mistreated (because lets face it, starving farm animals hardly boosts their productivity) when there are plenty of horses and ponies this side of the channel that are far more in need of our help?
 
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I cannot understand why people get so hysterical about the concept of eating horses. If they are farmed for the purpose and treated and killed humanely, why is it any different to eating cows/sheep/pigs?

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It's no different at all, and is pure ignorant hypocracy on the part of those getting hysterical most of the time.



Unless they consume NO animal by products whatsoever they are judegemental hypocrites who lack an open mind to other cultures. ( and reality in general)
 
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My local butcher breeds, raises and slaughters Aberdeen Angus, and it really is lovely meat.

I'm now wondering...if a capaign were started to eat Shire Horse meat, could we bring this Breed out of the endangered bracket?
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Just out of curiousity JM, where do you buy horse meat from over here?

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A very good friend............
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My local butcher breeds, raises and slaughters Aberdeen Angus, and it really is lovely meat.

I'm now wondering...if a capaign were started to eat Shire Horse meat, could we bring this Breed out of the endangered bracket?
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Goodness me, are they seriously on the endangered list / bracket? What else is on there
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Well if you think about it then it would make sense in the modern world. These types of horses had a major use before modern convenience. Now many people find a large work horse impractical to keep and only a small pcoket of people put draft horses to use. I imagine they are bred far less and I can see how their numbers could dwindle to scarce figures.
 
Whilst the biggest numbers of horses getting eaten are TB or StB, remember that that is due to them being "use of a byproduct" ...they are bred to race and THEN go on to a plate.
The OP asked what breed would be raised FOR meat..primary purpose!

So with modern farming practices it would be same as with any other meat producing animal such as cattle... all the factors would be assessed...growth rates, ease of care, feed conversion rates(ie how much feed to add 1 kilo of meat?) management factors and product quality etc....

REALLY big breeds such as Shire, Clydesdale, CB etc would be out due to handling difficulty due to size... Not efficient ,you want compact with a lot of meat, not just a lot of meat on an oversized frame... remember they are meat, not riding horses we want and husbandry practices like worming triming etc are easier on a smaller critter that fits in a standard crush...the horses won't be handled and trained when produced on a commercial scale....

The most likely option would be to start with one of the "compact draft" type breeds that have always been dual purpose work/meat breeds... and with that as a basis selective breeding would refine the animal to carry more meat, have higher conversion rates, better marbling of the meat etc...all the things that are done in cattle.

...but the extra supply of off the track horses will always be there...just not as efficient producers...just like the cast off bull calves from dairy production...lesser quality product, lower margins, but still viable done the right way.....

Gee look some of us can have a rational conversation about eating horses!


ohh...and as for the supposed religious reason for not eating horse...nope, tis just cultural, no religion I can think of has a problem with horses specificly...meat as a whole for some, cows for Hindu's, pigs(and quite a few more critters for Jews and Muslims) but no specific aversion to horses! Infact you will find the aversion to horse is something from the last 50-70 years only in most cases!
 
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