For a very long time, horses have been bred and imported into the US as work and companion animals. Other cultures have ascribed a high social status to the horse (nomads, Arabs, desert cultures) so much so that they live in the tents with people. Their milk is used, but they are not consumed.
There has not been a *tradition* of using horses as a food source in the US. Only in times of great necessity have "we" resorted to knowingly eating horseflesh. Other countries are different--I saw "rib of foal" on the menu at a restaurant in Geneva, Switzerland; I had to leave. Horses are amazing companions, they are sentient being, yes, I know they have souls, and my horses are my children. I have raised them all since they "hit the ground." The legislation to ban the sale of and slaughter of horses is essential. Kentucky supports it, as they have a glut of horses--for every winning Thoroughbred racehorse, there are thousands that are bred and need "disposal." At a local horse auction, the Alpo man would be there every week to purchase knackered horses who were just too far gone to serve any other useful purpose, as well as those who the owners just viewed as a liability. Knowingly sold for rendering (by the way, very little glue is made from horses any more; casein and mucilage are still around. Elmer's is made from milk by-products, read the label: made by Borden's, with Elsie the Cow on the bottle).
Mustangs are rounded up by the FBLM and sold to the hightest bidder, often for $25 and up. Alot of unscrupulous humans were buying them up and selling them to the meat plants. The United States remains the largest exporter of equine flesh for human consumption in the world. People are trying to change that, for so many of the mustangs who may be taxing the land resources can be trained and lead useful lives. I have a friend who rescued a mare and her filly--as mustangs, they are often considered "throw-way animals," much as many humans view fish, little chicks and ducks and bunnies at Easter, etc. The mustang is part of our national heritage; they really do ascend from the early Spanish exploiters, oops, I mean explorers, and have developed into hardy, beautiful, precious members of our collective heritage. Watch "Cloud: Stallion of the Rockies" some time (PBS). And why do people get so outraged over cruelty to dogs, ignorance over pits (I have a Staffordshire Bully girl) and fight for their rights? No, I will not knowingly eat dog, but I don't eat out.
I was a vegetarian for years, mixed foods to create proper proteins and nutrients, etc., but it got to a point that I needed to go back to animal protein. Yes, it's hard to eat beef when there are beautiful happy cattle here on the farm where I live, and I fall in love with each calf, name alot of them, then at 6-9 months, they go to auction. I know they've lived a happy and healthy free-range diet, well cared-for. But to be realistic, I do eat a llittle beef--in ground form, no more steaks. No pork, can't handle it. Chicken. Some seafood. Etc.
In North Carolina, the leading moneymaker in the agricultural industry is the equine industry. Aside from breeding and raising horses, you have: auctions for quality horses, land for the horses, places to board them, land to produce hay (we baled around 5,000 square bales and 50 large round bales (cattle) this spring.) I alone spent $250 on spring fertilizer for my 4 acres. There are trainers, magazines, workshops and seminars, Therapeutic riding stables for mentally and physically challenged children and adults, shows, venues for showing, feed stores that sell bagged grains and feeds, fly sprays, wormers, dietary supplements, treats, saddles, other tack for training and riding, barn tools, "beauty products" like shampoos, conditioners, decorative materials for parades, people and buildings to provide these services-----get the point? People who have horses, for the most part, care very deeply for these amazing creatures who are emotional, intellligent, can understand over 200 words if you talk to them alot (dogs learn over 300)--but they are prey animals and instinct for survival, which includes spooking/running,etc, which many humans take for stupidity. My 10 year old mare gives me gentle kisses, even if I don't ask for one--soft, velvety nose.
Now, in closing, I'm not sucked into those of you who have been baiting others with your "mmm, mmm, good, gimme a big thick horse steak." Been there, heard that, over and over. As with our kept fish, unless a horse is wild, a mustang out on the plains, they have chemicals in them--other than so many cattle (ours are clean)--llike wormers, fly preventives, tetanus shots, lots of other things. Wouldn't eat that. If I were starving and all I had were my horses? I'd use them as transportation and barter, not as food.
There has not been a *tradition* of using horses as a food source in the US. Only in times of great necessity have "we" resorted to knowingly eating horseflesh. Other countries are different--I saw "rib of foal" on the menu at a restaurant in Geneva, Switzerland; I had to leave. Horses are amazing companions, they are sentient being, yes, I know they have souls, and my horses are my children. I have raised them all since they "hit the ground." The legislation to ban the sale of and slaughter of horses is essential. Kentucky supports it, as they have a glut of horses--for every winning Thoroughbred racehorse, there are thousands that are bred and need "disposal." At a local horse auction, the Alpo man would be there every week to purchase knackered horses who were just too far gone to serve any other useful purpose, as well as those who the owners just viewed as a liability. Knowingly sold for rendering (by the way, very little glue is made from horses any more; casein and mucilage are still around. Elmer's is made from milk by-products, read the label: made by Borden's, with Elsie the Cow on the bottle).
Mustangs are rounded up by the FBLM and sold to the hightest bidder, often for $25 and up. Alot of unscrupulous humans were buying them up and selling them to the meat plants. The United States remains the largest exporter of equine flesh for human consumption in the world. People are trying to change that, for so many of the mustangs who may be taxing the land resources can be trained and lead useful lives. I have a friend who rescued a mare and her filly--as mustangs, they are often considered "throw-way animals," much as many humans view fish, little chicks and ducks and bunnies at Easter, etc. The mustang is part of our national heritage; they really do ascend from the early Spanish exploiters, oops, I mean explorers, and have developed into hardy, beautiful, precious members of our collective heritage. Watch "Cloud: Stallion of the Rockies" some time (PBS). And why do people get so outraged over cruelty to dogs, ignorance over pits (I have a Staffordshire Bully girl) and fight for their rights? No, I will not knowingly eat dog, but I don't eat out.
I was a vegetarian for years, mixed foods to create proper proteins and nutrients, etc., but it got to a point that I needed to go back to animal protein. Yes, it's hard to eat beef when there are beautiful happy cattle here on the farm where I live, and I fall in love with each calf, name alot of them, then at 6-9 months, they go to auction. I know they've lived a happy and healthy free-range diet, well cared-for. But to be realistic, I do eat a llittle beef--in ground form, no more steaks. No pork, can't handle it. Chicken. Some seafood. Etc.
In North Carolina, the leading moneymaker in the agricultural industry is the equine industry. Aside from breeding and raising horses, you have: auctions for quality horses, land for the horses, places to board them, land to produce hay (we baled around 5,000 square bales and 50 large round bales (cattle) this spring.) I alone spent $250 on spring fertilizer for my 4 acres. There are trainers, magazines, workshops and seminars, Therapeutic riding stables for mentally and physically challenged children and adults, shows, venues for showing, feed stores that sell bagged grains and feeds, fly sprays, wormers, dietary supplements, treats, saddles, other tack for training and riding, barn tools, "beauty products" like shampoos, conditioners, decorative materials for parades, people and buildings to provide these services-----get the point? People who have horses, for the most part, care very deeply for these amazing creatures who are emotional, intellligent, can understand over 200 words if you talk to them alot (dogs learn over 300)--but they are prey animals and instinct for survival, which includes spooking/running,etc, which many humans take for stupidity. My 10 year old mare gives me gentle kisses, even if I don't ask for one--soft, velvety nose.
Now, in closing, I'm not sucked into those of you who have been baiting others with your "mmm, mmm, good, gimme a big thick horse steak." Been there, heard that, over and over. As with our kept fish, unless a horse is wild, a mustang out on the plains, they have chemicals in them--other than so many cattle (ours are clean)--llike wormers, fly preventives, tetanus shots, lots of other things. Wouldn't eat that. If I were starving and all I had were my horses? I'd use them as transportation and barter, not as food.
