Rather gruesome (sorry!) but can you get your own horse butchered and eat it?

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flyingfeet

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As the title really !

Ok and why am I so bonkers today- I have a 3 year old that has to go for meat as he has a seriously wonky leg, I had hoped it might improve, but he will have to go for meat at some point.

I bought him as a punt, and he is no different to a cow, so is it legal to eat him?
 
As long as his passport doesn't say 'not for human consumption' and all the withdrawal periods for drugs are observed, it shouldn't be a problem. The only thing is, there are only 2 abattoirs in UK that slaughter horses and I don't know if any of them do 'kill, cut, box and return' service.
 
on his passport have you signed section 9 saying he cannot go for meat? if yes then no he cannot be eaten.

Also if he has had bute he cannot be eaten...........
although if young I think he wud only have been given metacam as u don't give foals bute (how old is he?) and i am unsure of the licensing of metacam for feed animals........
 
Yes you can providing passport conditions etc are met. It is legal for you to kill your own animals to eat without going to an abattoir.

Probably the easiest way to do it as he is your horse and you are intending to eat him is to ask around your local smallholders who grow their own and, like me, don't believe in shipping animals off to abattoirs. They may well know of a professional slaughterman who will lend you his equipment and be there on a watching brief and also do the butchery.

Alternatively the local hunt might despatch him for you. The trouble comes with what happens next, as you need to hang the carcase for a minimum of 12 hours to set the muscles and really longer than that. We have set up a pulley on part of a pole barn to deal with cattle carcases, you also need to be able to wrap it (sewn together duvet covers) to prevent flies. We can't hang for very long unless the temperature is right - ie not this time of year. The butcher then comes in and cuts up in our kitchen.

That's probably quite enough detail for an open forum. PM me if you want any further information.

I have no intention of eating my horses, although it does seem a waste of meat, as the ones who would be obvious choices are old and have been with me for a long time and are more like family members than meat on the hoof - unlike my sheep and pigs.
 
If this is a proper post and not god forbid a horrible troll, yes you can, ask your vet if he will put horse down by humane killer, not injection and before you do this, look in local paper for travelling butcher, this is someone who butchers cattle, sheep and pigs on their owners home location, for their own consumption, and see if they will do the same for you. If you decide against it, why not just contact your local hunt kennels and get them to take him from you, helps them and you will know that the "job will be done correctly"
 
Not to sure about your question, but i gues theres bound to be somewhere that would do it.
Is there no chance for him at all?
 
Can't see any reason why you shouldn't eat your own horse. So long as it is for your own consumption I think a butcher could joint it on site.

Don't think I could manage it myself though. When I started keeping chickens I found I couldn't eat them any more. Chicken and chips was on thing but Mavis' auntie in white wine sauce was quite another!!
 
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This is not a troll post, actually I wasn't sure if it was legal, as I've never heard of anyone doing it .

Also to be clear, I would never eat a riding horse or one I've spent any time with (i.e. training). Or probably one I bred as too emotional.

However this one has been raised, as I would a cow on the farm. To a certain extent I'd rather know what happened to him. Is is really taboo to eat horse meat?
 
Wonderwall said:
Is there no chance for him at all?
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Sadly looks very grim, he should have been operated on as a foal, but owner was out of money. He floats in action, is a pure hanno with weltmeyer lines. However his nearside fetlock is very bent, he cannot tuck his hind leg underneath him when laying down and often suffers from 'dead leg' after a kip. Has a huge thorough-pin the other side and sadly whilst he is sound now, I cannot see him staying sound with just his own weight.
 
Cotwolds a Troll? Now that's a laugh!

Providing you know exactly what drugs he has had, and when, and know what if any withdrawal or exclusions these drugs have (including wormers) there is absolutely no reason you cannot eat your own horse.
Check the Passport Status, check any drugs he has been given, and the difficult part, locate a butcher who will do this for you.
Many small local butchers who raise their own beef etc often offer such a service, although doubtful they get requests for horses.
 
Why would you really want to eat him? Surely its easier to just take him to potters and get him done there, then get some money for him and he'll end up on a french table.
 
Thats such a shame, i guess its just the way things go sometimes we cant save them all i guess :( your doing the right thing. x
 
Well we've had him for 2 years - so know what he's had in that period

I would think undoubtedly even though I want to be sustainable and have that small holder mentality that I am going to wus out.
 
BeckyX said:
i am a vegetarian, but i suppose you know were they went - no pain or waste i guess :/, it just seems a bit strange but i am sure it is possible.
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See I feel a hypocrite for eating meat if you cannot face dealing with it from living and breathing to plate. If people were made to kill the animals they eat I'm sure our diet would improve as we eat too much meat :(
 
What an unusual post! As said above, as long as there is no 'not for human consumption' on the passport and he hasn't had any of the withdrawal drugs then there is no reason why you cant. The vet, knackerman or hunt will do the job for you and then the butcher will do the rest. Not sure how much the whole butchering would cost though as I would assume it would be a big job... better hope you like the taste after all that! That said, I know a butcher and I should imagine that he would relish in the new challenge!

I am however, glad that you are being reasonable and realising that the future for that kind of malformation is not pretty. Too many horses are kept alive for the sake of it and you have a (refreshingly!) practical approach!
 
A blacksmith near me does just that. He has a Belgian draft stallion which he uses on his mares and he butchers a few of the foals for home use. Not my cup of tea but no different from raising your own bullocks for the freezer.
I bred sheep and goats but gave up as I was physically ill when I packed them off to the butcher. My hens die of old age and are then left under the walnut tree for the fox
 
You CANNOT kill an animal at home for your own consumption. You used to be able to, but now they have to go to an abbatoir.

We had a heifer that broke its fetlock joint so it was not fit to travel, so we got hold of a travelling butcher and had it slaughtered on the farm, then he took the sides away, hung them and cut it up and delivered it back in boxes. But that was a few years ago, pre Foot and Mouth. I am 99,9% sure that this is not allowed now. Another law from this Government. Why I do not know. I think they thought that thousands of animals were being sold from the back door for cash.
 
Obviously eating horses is not taboo since lots of people do it, but I can't say it would be my choice to eat one I knew. But then I'm not a big meat eater anyway and descriptions of the meat make me think I'd dislike it even if I didn't know what it was, in the same way I dislike moose. :) I did eat animals I knew when I was a kid, but then I also always knew that's where they were going to end up. I would have a much tougher time with an animal I'd known for years and contemplated another life for.

I can see the reasoning behind like minded small holders "trading" animals so they don't eat the ones they raised. It's all very well to say people should be tougher than that but we are emotional animals and I'd rather eat an animal I knew had a decent life than avoid the whole question because I couldn't bring myself to eat one I knew.

It might be a question if you'd actually LIKE the meat. And to really do it properly you'd have A LOT of it to get through, including some parts I think you'd struggle to find commercially available. (I understand horse meat cannot be used for pets in the UK - that's obviously where the extras go elsewhere, as the bits most people seem to eat comprise a relatively small amount of the whole horse.)

I had a friend that raised horses to ride and horses to eat - it always made me a bit queasy but I guess I couldn't fault her for it. And I remember seeing a documentary years ago about a fellow in Thailand, I think, who bred dogs for meat yet had a pet dog he called be a completely different name, in the way that we use "beef" and "cow". The interviewer kept trying to point out the inherent conflict to him but the guy wasn't having any of it - it was his culture and dogs for eating were not the same as dogs for petting. We humans are great at stuff like that. :)
 
I thought this was a 'joke' post at first!!

I wouldn't personally eat a horse (but I am a veggi!) but if you are thinking about the waste of meat issue you could send him to a local hunt / safari park etc

I live just outside London so when I had my old boy PTS he went to the zoo.
 
CotswoldSJ said:
However this one has been raised, as I would a cow on the farm. To a certain extent I'd rather know what happened to him. Is is really taboo to eat horse meat?
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No, I don't think it is taboo to eat horse meat but people on here do tend to get quite upset at the thought of it. I personally don't see the problem with it and for many countries, horses are simply cattle, like sheep and cows. I've eaten horse in the past and can't say I especially liked it (thought it was like venison only stronger and more tough) but I wouldn't pass judgement on others for eating it.

I'd rather see someone like you doing the responsible thing and having him shot than just absolving responsibility by chucking him in the sales. What you do with the carcass afterwards is your choice.
 
This isn't a dig at the OP at all, but i find this thread really distasteful (excuse the pun). I'm not against eating horse meat in principle although i wouldn't want to myself, but I hate the phrase 'go for meat'. Sorry, but I now feel quite queazy.

To the OP, I do hope your youngster has other options and makes it through.
 
Pets in the UK can, and do, eat horse meat. Probably under the cover of 'meat derivatives'
 
All I can say is you're going to need a seriously big freezer or 2!!! My friend had a cow put in hers the other day and it took 2 large chest freezers and 2 small upright ones and she gave quite a bit away - it wasn't even a big cow!!!
I wouldn't personally eat a horse I knew, I have done it with pigs that had names but I always new they were for the freezer from the start.
I suppose the reason it is considered not the done thing - is because of the value we place on the horse in our culture not just today but from a historical point of view - if you didn't have a horse throughout history you were a nobody and had limited means of transport/ or had nothing to work the land. Today the horse is a pet and a luxury item so we tend not to look at it as food - but I suppose if an animal is going to die then it is one way of letting nothing go to waste!
 
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