# HORSE! It's the other red meat! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 25, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801 "2005-02-25T02:05:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/1 "2005-02-25T02:05:16Z")
Put the “tang” back in Mustang! What are we going to call all the condiments we’ll need to dine upon these delectable desert morsels? “Mayoneighs” ? [Fight over lifting of protections for wild horses Mustangs now can be slaughtered for horsemeat](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7026365/) > [@](#): > > RENO, Nev. - For the first time in more than a generation, the mustang — the very symbol of the American West — can be slaughtered for horsemeat. > > In December, Congress repealed the 34-year-old ban on the slaughter of the wild horses that run free across the West. The move has brought a powerful backlash from activists, who want to reinstate full protection for the mustangs. > > “It is really a slap in the face to the American people,” said Betty Kelly, co-founder of the horse protection group Wild Horse Spirit in Virginia City, Nev. > > Acting on behalf of ranchers who say the horses eat forage needed by cattle, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., attached the amendment in December to a spending bill that President Bush signed into law. > > 8,900 horses subject to slaughter > It allows for the sale for slaughter of some older and unwanted horses that are captured during the periodic government roundups aimed at reducing the wild population, now estimated at 33,000 across 10 Western states. About 19,000 of the horses are in Nevada. > > A bill to reinstate the slaughter ban was introduced in Congress last month. > > Responsibility for rounding up horses on federal land and selling them rests with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which has yet to send any of the animals to slaughter ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/2 "2005-02-25T02:59:29Z")
Hate to say this, but I lived in Belgium for a while and now can safely affirm that horse is pretty darn tasty. As the sign said at the market, “Eet gezond. Eet paard!” (Eat healthy. Eat horse.) ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/3 "2005-02-25T03:26:01Z")
I had horse meat at a campout with some Italian Boy Scouts when my dad was stationed in Sicily. Wasn’t bad. What better solution do you have to the overpopulation issue? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/4 "2005-02-25T03:37:35Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > I had horse meat at a campout with some Italian Boy Scouts when my dad was stationed in Sicily. Wasn’t bad. > > What better solution do you have to the overpopulation issue? No reason to get on your high horse! I bridle at your suggestion that I’m anything but pro horse meat. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/5 "2005-02-25T03:46:33Z")
I have to say that I think its really cool that at least I get to see an animal story where they aren’t endangered. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/6 "2005-02-25T04:29:15Z")
Eat horse, is tasty. Less fat % by weight, meat is slightly ‘sweeter’, similar to buffalo but not quite venison. Makes a really kickass bourguinon, roulade, stew or chili. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/7 "2005-02-25T04:42:20Z")
Cool. Does this mean Japanese restaurants in the US will start serving _basashi_\*? \*Horse sashimi. Basically sliced raw horsemeat. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/8 "2005-02-25T06:25:08Z")
Sequential thread titles: **Surreal times at the Waffle House** **HORSE! It’s the other red meat!** ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/9 "2005-02-25T06:57:53Z")
An old friend of mine has been a horseman all his life. He was training mules at 10. We’ve talked of horse auctions. Honest sellers will let the buyers know if a horse is dangerous or injured. Besides the rendering plants and the petfood firms, some of the bidders are individuals who are looking for some cheap meat for the winter. As I understand it, it’s not legal to sell horsemeat for food in Indiana, but if you take a horse to a meat processor, he can legally give you back horsemeat, for a fee. I’m told it’s tender (unless it’s from an old horse,) and as nutritious as beef. Smarty Jones. It’s what’s for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/10 "2005-02-25T11:11:35Z")
\>MMmm-mmm. Trigger.\< ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/11 "2005-02-25T12:40:22Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Eat horse, is tasty. Less fat % by weight, meat is slightly ‘sweeter’, similar to buffalo but not quite venison Three meats I have never tasted, I’m missing out… ---
**Author:** ![Jimson\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@Jimson\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimson_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/12 "2005-02-25T13:11:55Z")
I worked in a meat packing plant in Sweden on summer in college. Part of my responsibility was making sausage. It contained several meats including horsemeat. The sausage was quite tasty and one of their best sellers. There other best seller was seasonal, it was smoked reindeer meat sold only at Christmas Time. It was sold presliced in a little package with drawing of Rudolf on the front. ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/13 "2005-02-25T13:27:59Z")
Now I’ll have to try Hardee’s new Seabisquet & Gravy breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Canadiangirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Canadiangirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadiangirl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/14 "2005-02-25T13:57:32Z")
The risk we run by allowing a ruling for “overpopulation” is that, how do you know when it NOT overpopulation if cattle are grazing on land horses used to live on. It’s a shame that domestic animals are allowed to overpopulate however wild ones aren’t. I believe the result is called extintion? ---
**Author:** ![Canadiangirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Canadiangirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadiangirl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/15 "2005-02-25T14:00:55Z")
extinction :smack: preview, preview preview ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/16 "2005-02-25T14:27:54Z")
> [@Canadiangirl](#): > > The risk we run by allowing a ruling for “overpopulation” is that, how do you know when it NOT overpopulation if cattle are grazing on land horses used to live on. It’s a shame that domestic animals are allowed to overpopulate however wild ones aren’t. Horses aren’t indigenous to North America. I don’t believe “feral” is an appropriate term at this point, but they’re basically decendants of domesticated horses that did go feral. Wiping them out completely wouldn’t be any sort of environmental tradgedy, because they’re not “natural” in the first place, and they graze lands used by bison as well as cattle. I don’t think you really have to worry about horses becoming extinct either. ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/17 "2005-02-25T17:45:49Z")
> [@Exgineer](#): > > Horses aren’t indigenous to North America. I don’t believe “feral” is an appropriate term at this point, but they’re basically decendants of domesticated horses that did go feral. Wiping them out completely wouldn’t be any sort of environmental tradgedy, because they’re not “natural” in the first place, and they graze lands used by bison as well as cattle. > > I don’t think you really have to worry about horses becoming extinct either. Many of the so-called “wild horses” aren’t even the decendants of domesticated horses. A large number of them, if not the majority, are stray or dropped off domesticated horses. Growing up here in Wyoming, and growing up on a horse ranch, and working on ag issues as an attorney, I am very familiar with a large number of the herds around here, and have helped with the BLM roundups and adoption programs. It isn’t unusual to find a large part of the “wild horse” herd to have brands, or even bridle paths. I have former clients who work for the state prison system breaking “wild horses” who tell me some of them are broke to ride before they were captured. I’ve also known (and prosecuted) people who don’t want a horse and who just dump them on the range to join the herd. Don’t get me wrong, I love horses, and enjoy watching the wild herds run. But, when I think about it, I don’t understand why we work so hard to “preserve the wild horse”. Intellectually, it makes no more sense than “preserving” the local population of stray dogs & cats. ---
**Author:** ![Foible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Foible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foible)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/18 "2005-02-25T18:20:14Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > I don’t understand why we work so hard to “preserve the wild horse”. Intellectually, it makes no more sense than “preserving” the local population of stray dogs & cats. Besides the romance of the wild horse it makes sense to change our environment gradually. Humans changed a lot of things expanding across the continent, we should be sure of the niche horses fill before removing them. As for stray dogs, they’ve been with humans since we gave up our nomadic ways. Now that we’ve gotten good at limiting their populations we’re having to deal with a new animal, the urban coyote. We’ll get to see how this saga plays out over the next couple of decades. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/19 "2005-02-25T18:23:53Z")
As a rule, I don’t eat anything I can ride to get food. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801/20 "2005-02-25T18:26:27Z")
> [@Canadiangirl](#): > > The risk we run by allowing a ruling for “overpopulation” is that, how do you know when it NOT overpopulation if cattle are grazing on land horses used to live on. It’s a shame that domestic animals are allowed to overpopulate however wild ones aren’t. > > I believe the result is called extintion? To be blunt about it, with the domestic population of the horse [and ass] we are _hardly_ going to drive the horse or ass into extinction. People, if you get the chance to, go look at the poor things after a hard winter and you will understand that a feral population is not often a healthy one. Domestic horses [and asses] can live well into their teens, and many horses into their 20s, feral equines rarely make it past 8 to 10 years, between accidents,starvation, predation, illness and various infestations ranging from ticks and fleas carrying diseases to different types of flukes and worms. It is NOT a pretty sight. Not to mention they really _arent_ a ‘native’ population, equines were introduced into the continent by the spanish, and are in fact taking part of a niche formerly held by elk, deer and some forms of sheep and goat. If you want to hug bunnies, at least do some research on the matter… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horse-its-the-other-red-meat/291801.md?page=2)