[RajuVarghese]

It is quite common here in Switzerland. Cafeterias serve it as well as regular restaurants but, admittedly, it is not as common as beef, pork, chicken or lamb. Surprisingly, it is illegal in Texas and other parts of the US though it may not be enforced. Texas even bans transportation of horse meat through the state.

[xdennis]

> Texas even bans transportation of horse meat through the state.

Horse meat is banned in the whole US in the most American way possible: by the roundabout way of the government not providing horse meat inspectors.

Technically, you can eat meat in some places if you prepare it yourself, but since there are no inspectors there would be no way to sell it.

In the same way, it's not federally illegal to drink before 21, but congress will cut highway funds to any state which allows 20 year olds to drink.

BTW, I read in a book about The Godfather that Coppola remarked how ridiculous it is that people were upset that he used a real horse head and blood in the movie, but not with the fact that it came from a slaughterhouse which would have used it to make dog food.

[1shooner]

>Surprisingly, it is illegal in Texas and other parts of the US though it may not be enforced.

This is second-hand, but I was told by a horse trainer in Kentucky that one reason is pharmaceutical: the drugs used on most horses in the US as a matter of course make them problematic for eating.

[systemvoltage]

> Surprisingly, it is illegal in Texas

Why is it suprising? Horses are an integral part of history and culture of Texas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy

[meheleventyone]

Horses are integral to the history and culture of Iceland to the point of having an exclusive breed of horses with their own unique gait yet you can still eat horse here.

[systemvoltage]

That's indeed surprising, in a similar vein as if we made eating dogs a normal thing. Some cultures have (China).

[meheleventyone]

Only from a different cultural context, there isn’t an objective idea about what’s correct here. The idea that horses should be privileged because they are historically important is itself interesting. Particularly in terms of how historically they were widely eaten. I also think there is a bit of retconning going on where our views of the animals now are assumed of our ancestors. For example I’m British and horses are generally not eaten but this it’d be ahistorical for me to claim that this was true even in the relatively recent past.

Also the idea that cowboys are uniquely horse based when vast swathes of the world was also using horses ubiquitously at the same time!

[CogitoCogito]

Horses used to me much integral to American and European culture and history and they used to be eaten much more.

[5e92cb50239222b]

It's an integral part of my country's history (much more so than that of Texas IMHO). Same in our neighbor Mongolia. Horse meat isn't illegal here, and never was. I ate it a couple of times and nobody raised an eyebrow.

[acer4666]

Should it be illegal to eat peaches in Atlanta?

[systemvoltage]

Are peaches used for anything else other than eating? The culture is based on eating peaches and they grow by the millions. It would be surprising if they made eating peaches illegal.

I suspect it is contemptous to eat an horse in Texas precisely because it provides a livelihood and killing one to eat is probably not a wise idea. Culturally, it is entirely understandable just like cows in India: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_in_religion_and_mytholo...

I am not here to argue whether it is ok to eat a horse or not. I am debating about whether it is surprising or not. It is not surprising at all IMO.

[myko]

So are longhorns :)