CorvusCorax
'It's only a laugh, no harm done'
Yep, that's right, it's only OK to eat ugly animals 
Is it legal to eat horse in the UK
- Thread starter Super_Kat
- Start date
Fantasy_World
Well-Known Member
Thankyou Milkmaid for putting my mind at rest. I do wonder though out of all the horses that do end up on people's plates how many of them get the pain relief they need?
Cop-Pop
Well-Known Member
I used to ride out with a girl who has gone into butchery - it makes me laugh that since she completed her courses her horse has been impecably behaved
Milkmaid
Well-Known Member
I think farming horses for meat is a different thing entirely to the leisure industry. But I think handling ANY farmed animal (well apart from fish obviously!) makes the life they do have a lot less stressful. My cows all know me and trust me and have a happy life whilst they are with us.
You and me both. Which is why I have only ever (knowingly) eaten horse meat in this country when I know for sure it`s origin.
A common misconseption. A lame, worm riddled animal animal would not thrive and therefore not be valuable as an end product. Believe me, I see alot more lame skinny animals on livery yards than I do on farms! It`s in the farmers best interest to look after his stock! Yes, you do get 'bad farmers' but they are in the minority and there are measures in place in the form of inspections etc. to further safe guard the animals.
Fantasy_World
Well-Known Member
A common misconseption. A lame, worm riddled animal animal would not thrive and therefore not be valuable as an end product. Believe me, I see alot more lame skinny animals on livery yards than I do on farms! It`s in the farmers best interest to look after his stock! Yes, you do get 'bad farmers' but they are in the minority and there are measures in place in the form of inspections etc. to further safe guard the animals.[/QUOTE]
Ah but we are talking farm animals here and not horses. I too have not seen that many underfed farm animals raised for meat. Have seen cows with poor feet, broken tails and other injuries but not failing to thrive animals.
My worry with the horse meat industry is will there be quite a few let's have a go types.
Do meat horses for example get the same proteins and other feeds to stimulate growth and maturity that you would give to pig, cattle and sheep? Having worked for a short time for a animal feed company I do have some background knowledge of animal feed consumption and its constitution as well as medicated feeds. However as no one I knew kept horses for meat (just pleasure) then I just wondered if they have similar feeding regimes to for example beef cattle, or would grazing and hay/haylage just mainly suffice?
Would you have horses being bred and then sent to markets for buyers to finish them off?
Like you see with beef, cattle and sheep.
I always worry about meat vans, the type you see in towns/markets etc, compared to supermarkets and true butcher shops.
I wonder why they are able to sell their meat so cheaply?
True they are not paying rent for shops and perhaps the insurance is cheaper on a van than a premises, but still they must have a base, livestock or have good dealings with a slaughterhouse to sell so cheaply.
Is there not a concern than some of these equines may end up being sold in this manner and is everything all completely legit?
I know farmers and slaughterhouses are inspected however there are failings and exposures by certain animal rights activists have proved that, as well as documentaries etc.
Other food scams such as people buying meat past its best, like chicken and washing in bleach before repackaging and selling on again.
All true, nothing made up!
Would horse meat then fall into this category of a potential scamming industry. Who would be likely to suffer the most, the consumer, the government, the farmers or the equines?
You see for me the idea of horse meat in the UK poses more questions than it answers.
Is it likely to be a cheap cut of meat compared to other farmed animals? If so at what cost?
Would its introduction and if it became popular then sign a death warrant (pardon the pun) for other farmed animals? If so then how much other meat would be wasted while the horse meat craze took over. The other animals will still be being bred, raised and produced.
I mean look how long it is taking for the hill farmers to realise that people don't want PONIES nowadays so much as they used to!
mmm food for thought eh, quite literally ?
Ah but we are talking farm animals here and not horses. I too have not seen that many underfed farm animals raised for meat. Have seen cows with poor feet, broken tails and other injuries but not failing to thrive animals.
My worry with the horse meat industry is will there be quite a few let's have a go types.
Do meat horses for example get the same proteins and other feeds to stimulate growth and maturity that you would give to pig, cattle and sheep? Having worked for a short time for a animal feed company I do have some background knowledge of animal feed consumption and its constitution as well as medicated feeds. However as no one I knew kept horses for meat (just pleasure) then I just wondered if they have similar feeding regimes to for example beef cattle, or would grazing and hay/haylage just mainly suffice?
Would you have horses being bred and then sent to markets for buyers to finish them off?
Like you see with beef, cattle and sheep.
I always worry about meat vans, the type you see in towns/markets etc, compared to supermarkets and true butcher shops.
I wonder why they are able to sell their meat so cheaply?
True they are not paying rent for shops and perhaps the insurance is cheaper on a van than a premises, but still they must have a base, livestock or have good dealings with a slaughterhouse to sell so cheaply.
Is there not a concern than some of these equines may end up being sold in this manner and is everything all completely legit?
I know farmers and slaughterhouses are inspected however there are failings and exposures by certain animal rights activists have proved that, as well as documentaries etc.
Other food scams such as people buying meat past its best, like chicken and washing in bleach before repackaging and selling on again.
All true, nothing made up!
Would horse meat then fall into this category of a potential scamming industry. Who would be likely to suffer the most, the consumer, the government, the farmers or the equines?
You see for me the idea of horse meat in the UK poses more questions than it answers.
Is it likely to be a cheap cut of meat compared to other farmed animals? If so at what cost?
Would its introduction and if it became popular then sign a death warrant (pardon the pun) for other farmed animals? If so then how much other meat would be wasted while the horse meat craze took over. The other animals will still be being bred, raised and produced.
I mean look how long it is taking for the hill farmers to realise that people don't want PONIES nowadays so much as they used to!
mmm food for thought eh, quite literally ?
AmyMay
Situation normal
If horse meat was to end up on our menu's then they would have to be farmed effectively, just like cattle and sheep.
guesstimation
Well-Known Member
I think there was once a brief discussion about Dartmoor Pony Sausages being sold on the moors lol, was definitely only a brief discussion!
I agree that whatever animal you eat it's down to the quality of life that animal has had rather than what it is. I often wonder if I would eat it or not. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to eat horse meat but if it were put in front of me I am not sure if I would or wouldn't!
Mare Stare
Well-Known Member
CorvusCorax
'It's only a laugh, no harm done'
SAVE THE DOLPHINS - sod the tuna.....
ester
Not slacking multitasking
CorvusCorax
'It's only a laugh, no harm done'
But they're yummy
perfect11s
Well-Known Member
So do you and others believe then it is perfectly acceptable for these 'horses' to be raised with the acceptance of headcollars/halters, to be led around and trust gained. Sometimes even ridden or used to pull carts? To be groomed, feet trimmed, maybe even shod and yet still sent for human consumption?
I understand that knacker yards exist and without them a great deal more equines would suffer. Not everyone can afford to have the vet out to have horses euthanised by injection and some may prefer the bullet anyway.
However I do object to the kind of treatment that is witnessed abroad with the tethering and working of horses before cramming them onto over crowded vehicles with little food, rest or water and then enduring rough treatment once more until they are finally dead.
Even without the transportation issues and having seen personally rough treatment, handling of horses at auctions, as well as witnessing cruelty and neglect I fear for the 'fashion' of horse meat to become established in the UK.
There are already countless of equines abused and neglected in the UK and Ire as part of the breeding for riding industry. ( yes there are good people amongst the bad ones before anyone starts shouting out) However if we as a nation were then starting to breed horses for human consumption as a thriving business ( yes I know it goes on already, but I mean on a larger scale) which would then see the meat on our supermarket shelves, I would fear for a great more equines.
I personally believe that more equines would be abused and neglected. Why? because if the end product was a dead product, then it would not matter if the animal endured injuries along the way, or was lame, worm riddled etc. The end product would be for meat and if not for humans then for the pet food industry. So the owner/breeders would not care. A few good ones amongst the many bad people though who would pride themselves on producing a good quality meat for the table, in exactly the same way as breeders and farmers do in the production of a nice bit of beef steak or leg of lamb.
However I see the popularity of horse meat in the UK encouraging not only further abuse of equines but also deception. Doctored passports and lies so that animals can be sent for human consumption rather than just animals. We already know of Irish horses coming over and losing passports along the way. Just look on HHO and see posts about people saying pages are missing, or help me trace my horses history and so on.
My fear is that instead of creating an outlet for unwanted equines it will fuel instead more misery for not just the already unwanted horses but for the thousands that would be bred commercially for consumption. Suppose some link is found in the future between eating horse meat and human health? BSE in cows and so on. Eating horses then becomes unpopular and so what happens to all those horses bred and raised for food?
Supply will far outweigh demand, it is already happening in the riding industry so gawd forbid if we start a widescale horse meat production industry in the UK
Personally I hope any venture never takes more than a few steps off the ground as even that would be too much.
I would never eat horse meat, not ever. For my own personal and ethical grounds.[/QUOTE]
Very good post well put thank you...
Happy Horse
Well-Known Member
I'm sure if it was illegal, Gordon Ramsay would not have cooked it and served it to the public in his F Word show.
Personally as with all animals, if it has been humanely reared and slaughtered I don't have a problem with horses being eaten by humans. Personally I wouldn't choose to eat it but I respect the rights of those who do.
Personally as with all animals, if it has been humanely reared and slaughtered I don't have a problem with horses being eaten by humans. Personally I wouldn't choose to eat it but I respect the rights of those who do.
VoR
Well-Known Member
Probably not a whole one at one sitting!!
perfect11s
Well-Known Member
I wouldent respect them !! seeing the horific conditions horses are being transported to places like Italy , the idiot fluffy bunny huggers stoping slaughter in the US so unwanted horses die a horible death in a mexican slaugter house havent helped, sadly there will always be unwanted horses and I have no problem with them going for animal food but we dont want to create a market for horse meat for human consumption that fuels breeding and causes more suffering to annimal that acts differenty and tends to be highly strung to other more passive animals such as sheep and cows which have proven easy to keep and handle for meat ...
SamanthaUK
Well-Known Member
More interested about the argument going on between Super_Kat and RedNosedReindeer to be honest :')
Devonshire dumpling
Well-Known Member
We have two lovely guinea pigs and I keep teasing my daughter how delicous they look spit roasted, go on your animal lovers google it, they look just like minature piggies mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm BRB just going to stick Rose Petal on the Rottiseriieee
tristar
Well-Known Member
legal or not, my grandfather, ex cavalry, once said with great passion, 'to eat horses is wrong!' i did'nt ask the reason, but i would rather starve than eat horse, horses are my life, i feel so close to them, their spirit , their beauty and nobility is unique, i don't give a kippers what anyone else thinks, its my personal viewpoint.
i think in our greed we have enough to choose from in meat, so why in this day and age are horse travelling, live across the continent, as i type this, its happening, now this minute, its shameful beyond belief.
i think in our greed we have enough to choose from in meat, so why in this day and age are horse travelling, live across the continent, as i type this, its happening, now this minute, its shameful beyond belief.
perfect11s
Well-Known Member
Yes I would wonder about the people posting its ok blah blah if they blah .. well are they realy horse people good riders and have any empathy or conection with their mounts or just average ,passingers on horses someone else has schooled ??? ...
Wildforestpony18
Well-Known Member
No, but as perfect11s says, horses have been our servants and have helped us for many many years, and so i think its wrong to repay them by killing them for our food. Please, no arguements, this is my opinion only. (i think it is also wrong when people send horses to slaughter because they "cannot cope with them")
xx
Wildforestpony18
Well-Known Member
I agree 100%
Inthemud
Well-Known Member
To me, the important criiteria is how an animal is raised, treated in life and how well and humanely it is killed, not what species it is.
I would have no problem with eating horse meat in theory, but I've never felt the need to seek it out.
I would have no problem with eating horse meat in theory, but I've never felt the need to seek it out.
DanceswithCows
Well-Known Member
Yours is the *****e opinion, because it completely ignores actual history!
Oxen (cattle) were domesticated and working long before horses, the plough was invented for the circa 5000 years ago. They were ridden into battle and pulled chariots in the ancient middle east, they've long been mounts for native Africans, they were also mounts for the people opening up most parts of Africa as horses couldn't survive due to disease and they played a big role in warfare there, they were the first draught animals imported to America and pulled the pioneers across that land, they played a massive role in opening up Australia pulling the bullock waggons, they have the whole sacred-in-india thing going on where they pull carts etc. and they've done the bulk of the ploughing and heavy haulage in Britain since the Bronze age for sure and possibly back to neolithic times, only finally giving way to horsepower a couple of hundred years ago.
What do we talk about on cattle forums? Well, the best ones focus on the riding
Do I eat beef? Yes, it's the food of kings!
All animals have good qualities to someone out there, I'd hate to rule one out and condemn others for eating it based on my own narrow little prejudices.
rhino
Well-Known Member
Fab pictures. Great knee action in the jumping one too
DanceswithCows
Well-Known Member
She is german, there's quite a 'moovement' over there and they achieve great things with their cows (which are also working dairy cows!)...they put me to shame really
perfect11s
Well-Known Member
Yours is the *****e opinion, because it completely ignores actual history!
Oxen (cattle) were domesticated and working long before horses, only finally giving way to horsepower a couple of hundred years ago.
What do we talk about on cattle forums? Well, the best ones focus on the riding
Do I eat beef? Yes, it's the food of kings!
So Xenophon was writing about cows 23 centures ago !!!!???LOL and how the west was won cowboys rode cows, waggon trains all the pictures were fakes, the pony express, bugger what a travesty to have John Wayne on a horse and the indians they stole and traded with the spanish conquisdors for there oxen to ride , must be a troll from a paralle universe rewriteing history
ChesnutsRoasting
Well-Known Member
I'm with DWC. A friend has just purchased a Water Buffalo calf, amazing, sweetest, friendliest little thing. Far superior in temperament than my mares current personality.
Fantasy_World
Well-Known Member
So Xenophon was writing about cows 23 centures ago !!!!???LOL and how the west was won cowboys rode cows, waggon trains all the pictures were fakes, the pony express, bugger what a travesty to have John Wayne on a horse and the indians they stole and traded with the spanish conquisdors for there oxen to ride , must be a troll from a paralle universe rewriteing history
Well said!
meandmyself
Well-Known Member
It amazes me how many people here are getting offended by the thought of eating horse. Question for you all- do you eat other meat?
Fantasy_World
Well-Known Member
In answer to your question yes. However I won't ever eat horse meat for my own personal reasons for which I am not obliged to explain to anyone