Montana may become the fist state(in a long time, at least) to allow horse slaughter. Has anyone here ever had any?(horse meat, I mean)

Does Fast Food count Bob?

Only if you know its in there.

I've never had horse meat, but would try it as I'm up for most any culinary adventure. I'm assuming though that while some of the meat from a MT facility might go to that market, most of the meat would go to dog food/byproducts, etc. But I could be wrong.

I haven't had it, but when we were in Switzerland last year it was on a lot of menus.

In 1987 I took my grandfather over to Sweden to visit relatives. "Hestkorv", which literally translates to "horse sausage" was one of his favorite foods from the old country that he could not get in the U.S. It was about the diameter of a pepperoni, and was very good....horse meat is a bit sweeter than beef, no gamey flavor. Slice it up on hard bread with farmer's cheese, and you have a classic Swedish lunch.

We tried to sneak some hestkorv back with us to the states, but %$&#ing Customs confiscated it. It about broke my grandfather's heart.

I wish they would start selling horse meat here. It is delicious!

Gunnar, I believe that violates the "You can't eat anything that adolescent girls daydream about" - which takes vampires and puppies off the table as well.

Currently, Montana does not have a horse slaughter house. However, House Bill 418 is waiting for the Governor to sign and allow it's passage. If you would like more information, look on the AQHA webpage or lookup HB 418.

Does this mean we can eat Francis the Talking Mule, too?

I'm all in favor of it, though I expect the great majority to be shipped overseas after processing. We Americans still have an affinity about horses as pets, most have names after all and owners get pretty attached to their rides- hard to eat Trigger after sitting on him for twenty years!

Of course there are other non-human uses for processed meat products, i.e., pet food.

Montana will make the bizarro news again after passing this one AND the new 'everyone can carry a concealed weapon' law.

Further enhancing our reputation as Hicksville, USA.

that is all that I have to say and no I haven't tried it nor will I. It would be like eating my best friend and those with minds that tend to wonder don't go there..

Just a thought,
Wonder if all those 4-H kids that put so much time in their animal projects have given up eating meat.

It's not just Montana, it's nationwide. Direct quote from a friend of mine who's a vet in Oklahoma:

"Some may think that horse slaughter is cruel, but it allows for responsible disposal of unwanted livestock. Yes, horses are still livestock under the law. Since the close of the equine slaughter houses, I have seen unwanted horses allowed to starve to death, be turned out on other peoples pastures, and being turned out on the roads to be hit by a car. Please help to reopen the horse slaughter plants."

4-H taught me how much my friends were worth - If I remember correctly, it was about $1.12/pound.

Yep Bridgier, and no matter how much we cried (well, maybe you didn't) when we had to "say goodbye," they paid for a lot of college!

Its about time that personal property rights are asserted in the matter of slaughtering horses. A line must be drawn. Misguided animal rights groups are slowly but surely chippping our personal property rights away. In California you no longer own your dog or cat but are its guardian. Horse ownership is headed that way if something isn't done. You can count on spaying and neutering laws and license requirements to breed or own horses. Where will it stop. The animal rights groups will use any ground they gain to move on to regulating other livestock. Their mission is to eliminate animals as a food source once and for all. They want our cattle, sheep and hogs to be considered pets. They have all but done this to horses.

While I hate to think that some of my horses may have gone to the killer, it is necessary. A killer market sets a floor for horse prices. The lack of a killer market in this country as led to the total collapse of our riding and breeding horse market. It is estimated that 100,000 head of horses per year where taken out of the system by slaughter. Given horses live into their 20's, we are looking at several million unwanted horses to be cared for over the next 20 yrs. Who is going to buy 150.00 hay to feed them. The BLM has 30 or 40 thousand head of wild horses on feed. What a waste of tax money. This planet can't waste the resources needed to feed and care for all the unwanted horses. It would be much better to provide them to the many people in the world who eat horse meat.

The fact of the matter is that horses are personal property. They are livestock, not pets. A horse can't sleep at the foot of you bed, ride next to you in the car or curl up next to the fireplace. They are big animals with big appetites. Unlike a fluffy little kitty, they can be dangerous to people who have no experience handling them. Livestock is personal property to be disposed of as the owner sees fit. So if I want to send a horse to the killer that is my right. If some bleeding heart wants to save one and waste their money on feeding it until it dies of old age that is their loss or right whichever way you look at it.

Horse meat is used for humans in alot of foreign countries, but here in the US it is used for dog food; but most importantly it is the main meat used in zoos for their cats. So if the zoos don't have horse meat they have to use other forms of fresh meat, which I don't know what they are.

Think how much money a zoo could make if it fed the tigers live chickens and sold tickets.

Once a month or so they could use a goat and charge double.

Mr. Ed on the menu isn't really the reason for opening a slaughter house. The big push is to get a slaughter house to dispose of the unwanted horses, and horses of old age. Look at the classifieds how many horses for give away do you see?? Alot more now then you have in the past. People can not afford to pay for feed, can't afford to use up their pastures to run useless horses, and most of all can't afford to sell them to someone else. It cost us more last year to truck horses to the sales yard and sell them then it would've if we could've taken them to the slaughter house and sold for dogfood.
I would like to see the horse slaughter plant be put up in MT. Mt jobs, Mt money, and a place to get rid of horses.

It's a really bad situation. Especially in bad economic times. For people living in urban areas having a horse is outrageously expensive, so if you lose your job, the horse needs to be one of the first things to go. Now that selling an old horse is nearly impossible, and people are unable to pay stabling fees of sometimes hundreds of dollars a month, you can see where they get to the point of just abandoning them somewhere. This is not kindness.

My experience with horse meat was in Germany. I was invited to a locals home for dinner and steaks were on the grill. They were fantastic!!

Surge in Abandoned Horses Renews Debate Over Slaughterhouses
By Katie Zezima
THE NEW YORK TIMES
April 6, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/20...es.html?em

Look out Crackers......