Rearing horses for human consumption

[Mosaic]

Now that I've got your attention.....
Does anyone have any clue as to when and why horses and ponies stopped being reared for food and only got eaten in emergencies?

[pdq1]

Maybe it was the animal rights movement. Anything that is regarded as a pet seems forbidden. In parts of the world especially in the Far East they also eat dogs.

[jake-the-peg]

Practicality

Animals used for things other than food tend to be kept alive a long time whereas food animals tend to be slaughtered relatively young.

I'd imagine old horses tend to be pretty unpalateable and young ones are too useful to eat

Over time we started to make a mental distinction between food and burden animals

[ChuckFickens]

Think the last time horses were really eaten in this country was in the 1930's during the depression.

And old horses actually taste better than young ones.

[humbersloop]

Found this earlier mosaic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_meat

[Graham-W]

There was a horse-meat butcher in Leeds market into the early 1970's. Don't know exactly when he closed down.
I've eaten it from there and found it a bit sweet for my taste. Low in cholesterol though.

[baza]

eaten horse in a cafe in france tasted ok but when i found out afterwards what i had scoffed it seemed wrong, never had it again.

[gipsey]

They still are reared foor food around the world.

[Mosaic]

Fantastic article Humbersloop - covered all the areas I'd felt in the dark about.

[Bambiagain]

They eat horse in Germany. Even people who like horses. I've got a horse, I've never eaten it and I never intend to.

[DTCwordfan]

They still eat it in France - I find it a tad stringy but it is supposedly far healthier than beef for you.

[DTCwordfan]

It was the one animal I never saw on a menu in all my time and travels across China.....old adage of "If it moves the Chinese eat it; if it stays still, they build on it."

The one other food that was absent - blue cheese - (hardly any cheese at all)

[douglas9401]

Tried it once, got the trots.

[woofgang]

Nowadays its harder to eat an old horse once its useful life has finished as there are certain drugs that can't be used in the food chain and the horse can't be put to sleep with drugs but had to be killed mechanically. Companion and athlete horses need to be passported and removed from the food chain.
Cows sheep and pigs are easier to raise for food, two of them are dual purpose and the pig can be raised in a small space and fed on household scraps and vegetable rubbish.

[DTCwordfan]

pretty good for being off the hoof, woofgang.