by Delia Busuioc

Created on: May 18, 2009   Last Updated: May 19, 2009

There's a question I've never asked myself until now! First of all, there are low chances of cow extinction, but let's assume that some virus, like "mad cow disease reloaded" takes them all down. Second of all, although horse meat is not consumed in English speaking countries (like United Kingdom, Ireland, USA, the English region of Canada and the states in Australia), it is very popular in some countries like Austria (hot-dog horse meat), Belgium (horse steak is quite popular - there are even a few restaurants specialized in this dish) , Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan (the particularity here is that, besides steaks, horse meat is also used as a dessert:a Japanese company makes a horse flavoured ice cream), Kazakhstan, Malta, Mongolia, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden.

But how did it get from cow meat to horse meat? I don't think that this should be the actual leap. We have chicken meat, fish, turkey, pork, lamb...for God's sake, why do we have to jump and eat horses? I for one find it barbaric. Horses are a symbol of freedom and wildness, they help us unchain our spirit by riding on their back! How can one eat such a beautiful animal? It's like eating your own dog or cat!

I can understand and accept the fact that horse meat was commonly eaten in ancient times (pre-Christian age). Back then, horses were not domesticated, their role was different than nowadays;people were hunting and eating in order to survive, they were filling a physiological need:hunger. There is also evidence of increased horse consumption during The World War II Hunger Period. Once again, people were desperate. They NEEDED to eat in order to live.

In the present times, horses are slaughtered in abattoirs and exported or delivered to luxury restaurants. Their meat is considered to be a delicacy. It is expensive, therefore affordable only for a certain class of society. Now individuals eat horse to satisfy a different kind of need: (self) esteem. A misunderstood form of expressing material achievement. It is not hunger anymore, but whim.

To answer the question, I don't think that people will start to eat horse, as a form of cattle replacement. For one, cows provide more than just meat. They are also raised for dairies like milk and cheese, so there isn't really a direct link between those two animals. We cannot say that the horse is "the next best cow". We would probably give that title to other animals that can actually accomplish a cattle's functions. The candidates would be: the goat, the sheep and the buffalo cow. The horse would remain man's companion and friend.

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