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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Eating horses?

209 replies

5Foot5 · 29/10/2016 21:54

DH and I are watching QI on Dave and there has been a discussion about eating horse meat. We were both a bit surprised that it is still seen as slightly distasteful by many people.

I have knowingly eaten horse twice - once in France at a barbeque and once in a hotel in Iceland where we ate foal for a starter and it was sweet and succulent and lovely.

So AIBU for thinking we are a bit squeamish in this country and there is really nothing wrong with it and for asking would you/ have you?

OP posts:
LouisvilleLlama · 30/10/2016 01:17

I would, I've generally never considered it as an edible meta and wild have to get my head round it but after realising it's the same as other animals I would

WiddlinDiddlin · 30/10/2016 01:20

Hitting horses with stirrups? You're doing it wrong (you put your feet IN the stirrups...)...

I digress..

Horses to eat - as long as they are raised ethically then I've no problem with that.

I have a problem with any animal not raised or slaughtered ethically, and horses are often transported long distances in some countries or even transported overseas just to be slaughtered - i feel that meat should travel on the hook, not on the hoof..

I personally don't like the taste of horse so don't eat it, same as I don't eat chicken, turkey, fish or lamb.

I wouldn't like the idea of someones pet horse or pony ending up as a meal, but thats more down to the welfare issues than the sentimentality really.

Its not comparable to eating dogs or cats though - it IS possible to raise horses for meat just like sheep or cattle, and do it humanely - it is NOT possible to do this with dogs or cats, they require too much space, too much human interaction (well dogs do) for them to be financially viable as food, which means there are no ethically raised meat dogs or cats, they are all suffering.

LouisvilleLlama · 30/10/2016 01:42

"I like horses and feel they have another purpose whereas the entire point of cows/pigs etc is food"

I also think that the only reason they're only used as food is because people just accept it I'm sure they could be used for other things if people were so inclined

FluffyFluffster · 30/10/2016 02:27

Mynest maybe not my best turn of phrase Grin

UsernameHistory · 30/10/2016 04:10

I have and would again.

It was tasty and I fucking hate horses so a win-win situation.

echt · 30/10/2016 05:47

Not knowingly eaten horse, but would have no qualms.

Looking round rural Australia, I've never seen so many horses, really; tons ( or is tonnes?) of the buggers, and all thoroughbreds. Something tells me they're not hobbling around on Zimmer frames in their dotage.

Yet not on a menu.

Dog food, I fancy.

Foxley11 · 30/10/2016 06:15

I have horses. I wouldn't eat horse, but have no issue with others doing so - my husband tried it on holiday in Malta, but found it too rich. I think any ethically raised and slaughtered meat is ok.

user1477282676 · 30/10/2016 06:19

I eat meat...but I don't eat horse, rabbit, hare, kangaroo or basically anything other than beef, lamb, chicken and fish.

I know it doesn't make sense...it's all meat...they're all mammals but I just can't eat rabbits and things! Pigeon would be another no.

I see pigeons as dirty...rabbits as cute...horses as noble...kangaroos as...well...similar to rabbits but not so cute.

Here in Oz everyone I know eats "roo"and they have Kanga-Bangers (sausages) which is gross to me.

I went to a dinner party once and was given "Casserole" which I assumed had beef in it...it didn;t...it was roo.

I felt disgusted that I'd mistakenly eaten it but obviously never said anything...

graphista · 30/10/2016 06:21

' It makes a deal with us - we can sit on its back and it will do waht it can for us, in return we treat it well and don't eat it.'

Utter nonsense it has no choice! If it did it wouldn't need 'broken'

As a veggie I do find it hypocritical to be morally comfortable eating one animal but not another. They all feel pain when slaughtered and are usually not benefitting from a great life prior either - and I'm including supposedly 'free range' animals in that too.

As for those objecting on safety grounds (antibiotics etc) you'd be shocked how unregulated farming is, it's how we ended up with bse/cjd in the first place and things haven't improved as much as people think.

cantpickusername · 30/10/2016 06:23

Yes I eat horse but I'm not British so think it's normal.

I wouldn't eat cat or dog but can't explain the logic. Maybe because horse is more of a farm animal?

Amalfimamma · 30/10/2016 06:25

Horsemeat is widely available here and seen as a great source of iron, it's also one of the first meats the pediatrician advised me on giving DC during weaning.

I have never eaten it, bought it or cooked it and I don't think I ever shall for the simple reason that to meet its like eating your dog or cat or gerbil.

I have eaten bear meat though in Finland as well as reindeer and would have killed for bear salami while pregnant with dc2

Blackfellpony · 30/10/2016 07:07

I own and ride horses however I have eaten one by mistake Blush

I wouldn't necessarily be bothered about them being used for meat but it's the ethics of which ones are used, how they are killed and where they are sourced that would bother me.
If the above was strictly regulated I wouldn't have a problem with it personally.

Something about eating a pet seems worse even though it's really illogical as it's probably had a better life than those poor animals bred for slaughter.

user1477427207 · 30/10/2016 07:19

" hitting them with stirrups "

ummm yeh....no

HermioneJeanGranger · 30/10/2016 07:33

I've eaten it and it doesn't bother me. So long as meat is ethically sourced, I'm not really too fussy. I've eaten all sorts - horse, zebra, rabbit, ostrich, kangaroo, emu, goat, venison, mountain sheep, buffalo, camel...they all tasted pretty good.

I'd draw the line at bugs, though. I've had snails but the thought of eating a cockroach or similar turns my stomach. I don't object to the principal of it, though.

Huppopapa · 30/10/2016 07:39

I own and ride horses however I have eaten one by mistake Blush

Quite a large animal for you not to have noticed part way through?! Grin

Blackfellpony · 30/10/2016 07:48

Huppo apparently "Polski burger" wasn't beef Grin

alizondevice · 30/10/2016 08:20

Most horses that have been owned for riding have ingested Bute, which is an anti-inflammatory pain killer, similar to Paracetamol for humans. Bute remains in the flesh for a very long time and is carcinogenic to humans when they consume the horse meat. For that reason alone, you might want to think twice about eating horse meat unless you have absolute assurance the animals were raised organically for slaughter and were not owned as riding animals.

user1477427207 · 30/10/2016 08:23

Thats right Alizon, once a horse has had bute, it is supposed to be written in the passport ' not for human consumption ' but I doubt that dodgy dealers stick to the rules.
A very good reason not to eat horse.
Not to mention the wormers it might have been given.

alizondevice · 30/10/2016 08:27

User, exactly! I know of local riding schools and dealers who have unloaded unwanted or unsellable horses to the slaughter houses. Haloween Sad

sterlingcooper · 30/10/2016 08:30

Horse meat is reasonably popular here in France. It is certainly something you can buy in most supermarkets and butchers. Oddly though it doesn't feature on many restaurant menus, now I come to think about it.

I bought a kilo of minced horse meat from my butcher recently, used half to make burgers and half for a lasagne. But the best way to enjoy horse is in the form of a good steak or a 'roti'. It has an earthier, gamier taste than beef and it is very delicious.

Frouby · 30/10/2016 08:31

We have ponies. I would never knowingly eat horse meat. We also have chickens and a couple of sheep but I happily eat chicken and lamb.

However I would like to see horsemeat become more acceptable in the UK and for horses to be categorised as agricultural animals purely because they are afforded more protection and I think welfare would improve.

At the moment anyone can own a horse and keep it wherever they like in whatever condition. It is a pet animal and has the same protection as a pet fish. Agricultural animals have more regulations so I think welfare would improve.

But I couldn't personally eat horse meat. For me it would be like eating my dog.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 30/10/2016 09:21

Horse meat is reasonably popular here in France. It is certainly something you can buy in most supermarkets and butchers. Oddly though it doesn't feature on many restaurant menus, now I come to think about it

Well, not openly at any rate Wink Grin

BolshierAryaStark · 30/10/2016 09:21

Yes, have eaten it several times in France, very nice it was too.
I also struggle to understand the hypocrisy around what animals are acceptable to eat.

Wolpertinger · 30/10/2016 09:40

Britain has a longstanding taboo against eating horse which can't fully be explained by horses current status of something similar to pets like cats and dogs.

Even in the past when you would have thought poor communities would have been happy to eat meat of any description - as in France or Italy where horse is much more commonly eaten - the Brits still rejected horse.

It's a fascinating subject and the taboo is thought to go back to pagan times and ancient Britons relationships with horses such as worship of Epona, the horse goddess. Also when Britain and Nordic countries were Christianized, eating horsemeat was discouraged to break associations with pagan worship and horse sacrifice. So there has never been a widespread horse cuisine as there is in other European countries.

There are other horse-based cultures that have similar taboos on eating horses as well e.g. the Romani

I have eaten horse but only because my Grandmother didn't tell me what it was. It was in my pony-mad days and otherwise I would have refused to eat Smile Since then when we've been on holiday, DH has had strict instructions - no horse (although I did once compromise on donkey - he said it wasn't very nice)

ChiefClerkDrumknott · 30/10/2016 10:05

Yep, because being used as slaves for humans to ride sitting on them and hitting them with stirrups when we want them to speed up is so much more dignified than being used for food...

Haha! There's always one...