Why Don’t We Eat Horse? It’s Nutritious.
Being a frequent globe trotter, I’m always baffled and amused by the great variety of cultural norms, particularly when it comes to diet. For years I traveled to China on business, where I tried out rat meat. Carrie and I love going to Thailand, where it’s not unheard of to eat dog. The French enjoy – as do many European cultures – frogs’ legs, snails and horse. Scandinavians relish fermented herring (not a pleasure I share). Many cultures around the world eat insects, grubs and all manner of meat. But every culture has its taboos. Here in the States, horse is certainly the biggest taboo.
Why don’t we eat horse? It’s nutritious.
Make no mistake. I’m not making an argument in favor of eating horse. I’m simply asking out of curiosity. Why don’t we eat horse? Having a vegetarian son and a semi-vegetarian wife, discussions about sentient beings, animal welfare, and cultural standards are frequent in our household. For example, why do we consider cows to be perfectly acceptable plate fixins’ when they are capable of learning, forming bonds, and are in fact quite intelligent? Sure, perhaps they’re a little less sensitive than horses and they like to stand around (I guess), but that doesn’t seem like a rigorous argument to me at all. We think of horses as pets, but the truth is we have no problem grinding them up for other uses. Horse farming is a booming business. And we all know the old glue jokes. If the thought of horse meat horrifies you, you should know we already produce a whole lot of it – we just sell it overseas, where people think nothing of tucking into a sizzling plate of whinny.
Arguments against horse meat consumption usually include the following:
- Horses have feelings/are advanced animals. And pigs aren’t?
- Horses are traditionally pets or workers. So are many other types of livestock.
- It’s just wrong. Feeling something is wrong doesn’t make it so.
If we can set aside emotions for a moment, let’s ask ourselves why we choose to eat some animals’ flesh and not others. If you agree that animal flesh should be included in the diet (my personal view), why shouldn’t we eat horse? It’s high in protein, low in calories, tasty, and sanctioned by the USDA. I’m an advocate of red meat. I have no problem with saturated fat. Our cells are made of it, after all. Horse meat is one of the most nutritious red meats on the planet. Personally, I’m perfectly happy with my grass-fed beef, organic chicken, and wild fish. But I guess I like to think about these cultural idiosyncrasies and ask why we follow certain practices so resolutely, when there is little, if any, logical reason to do so.
Happy Thursday! 
Further reading:
What I eat in a day (not horse)
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
All vegetarians should watch the nature channel. …I’m just saying.
I give that a 10/10 but then doing so would destroy their delusional illusions!
Late response but: horse is delicious! Raw horse is common in izakaya (drinking holes) in Japan, where I live. It’s tender and full of flavor. And yes, whale is also quite tasty but I have never ordered it (one can never be sure if what they are eating is endangered or not), only tried a few pieces when people around me have ordered it.
I don’t discriminate. There is absolutely no reason for it, unless you flat out don’t like the flavor.
Check out my rant here:
http://castlegrok.com/what-our-ancestors-ate/
A friend mentioned he had it horse sashimi in Japan recently too–I did some research, found a couple places here in Vancouver that serve it, got some nerve up, and tried it last month. It was fantastic. In fact I found another place and had it there too. Not only delicious, but makes for lively and heated discussion at work! I had NEVER had any interest in eating horse previously but for me life is all about learning and experiencing. Especially knocking down preconceived notions or ‘beliefs’ that are not necessarily logical or based on intelligent, conscious decisions–dietary or otherwise.
Wikipedia has a nice entry on the subject too.
Jonas! I am soo envious! Great price and easy to get? man – I need to take the ferry and drop by denmark in the future, for some shopping
As a norwegian (one of those Scandinavian countries) I really want to give you a real food experience, Mark – with sour herring and smoke salmon ++ – I’m sure I could change your mind !
In Norway the reason why we don’t eat horse is because of Christianity.
I don’t know if this is why you don’t eat horse in the US, but since the US was populated by Europeans – it might be a reasonable conclusion.
During the old days, before the christian invasion – it was customary during some of the seasonal religious festivals called “blot”‘s to have a horse-race – The best horse got sacrificed to Odin – and a great feast was made out of it.
In the campaign of squashing the old ways – christianity banned eating horse – it essentially became illegal , a punishable offence, and was regarded as immoral and sinful.
In the 21st century – people don’t really know the real reson – it’s not somehting they contemplate. But, when asked why they don’t eat horse – you get the basic “a horse has feelings”, “It’ll be like eating my cat(or other pet)” “It’s just wrong”, lol.
Is there a decently economical way to get ahold of horse meat? It would be fun to try it.
I tried some raw horse (bazashi) in Kumamoto, Japan. They’re famous for it and I can see why… it’s even better than fish sashimi. I’ll probably have some more next time I’m there.
In Japan, at least where I went, it’s taboo to eat deer… my girlfriend freaked out when I told her my dad hunts deer and I like the taste of it.
Horse meat is taboo in much of the West due to it being banned by the Pope, along with consumption of dog, because they were useful animals. I suppose the argument also applies to cattle pulling plows, but we eat those. Check wikipedia “Horse Meat”.
I’m surprised I was able to read through this entire post. I’ve always considered horses as pets, not food, but then again so can be pigs, cows, and chickens. Horses were afterall one of the frequently hunted herbivores in caveman days long before domestication. Even the beginnings of domestication were meant to keep our food sources close once we realized these animals could be tamed. It seems we’re always and always will be in a state of contradiction. My meat mostly comes from cows, chickens and the very occasional pig (bacon mostly) and even more rarely deer, bison and wild game bird. All animals large and small are fair game to be eaten, but each of us has a choice on what they choose to eat for palate tastes or moral reasons. I love meat, but my own contradiction is that at the present moment I could never hunt, slaughter, skin and cut-up one for myself or family to eat.
If I grew up eating horse, I wouldn’t blink an eye at the thought of eating it day in and day out and I have no doubt of its nutrition content. However, I grew up loving horses as a unique pet that can be ridden as a willing proud partner in conquest and that has given me a sense of connection and inspiration that no other pet has ever given me. I cherish that aspect of horses so could never wittingly eat the meat of one.
I wouldn’t eat horse, or pork, I think both animals are amazingly intelligent and a beautiful example of evolution on this planet.
Wow, I can’t believe no one has brought this up… The reason you SHOULD NOT eat horse meat! Most slaughtered horses were previously owned by people, meaning their bodies were most likely filled with drugs that are labeled DO NOT USE ON ANIMALS INTENDED FOR FOOD. There is supposed to be a period of time (somewhere around a year) to allow the drugs to get out of the system, but this rarely happens. These horses are then shipped to places like France and Japan. Happy eating
Horses were sacred animals for the early Germanic tribes. They were sacrificed for gods, so there was a taboo on mortals eating the meat. Most Northern Europeans (and by extension, white Americans) are descended from those early Germanic tribes.
I would think from an evolutionary perspective we were meant to eat horse.
I believe that predators are meant to eat herbivores, and horses are one of those.
But, at this time and age I would say we let this magnificent animal live out its life on green pasture.
I also think horse would be mostly lean muscle meat and quite tough to chew, unless eaten either raw or cooked for several hours.
I have tried horse , ground meat, it is too lean for me , I didn’t like the taste much for that reason . A bit of fat gives beef a better flavour . And that’s why sausages are so yummy . Octopus or squid are a delicacy ? , terrible !, they taste like rubber, awful; to each their own , chicken is just fine thanks