My Little Pony: Its Whats For Dinner

[roo_ster]

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/12/13/dutch-restaurant-serves-up-my-little-pony-burger-made-from-real-horse-meat/

Dutch restaurant serves up ‘My Little Pony Burger’ made from real horse meat

A Dutch restaurant is now serving up some stallion with its scallions.

The offbeat food truck Keuken van het Ongewenst Dier, which translates to "The Unwanted Animal Kitchen," now supplies its "My Little Pony Burger" year round to Babbe Hengeveld, a chef who runs her own restaurant Food Guerilla, reports Vice Munchies.

Keuken van het Ongewenst Die has been serving the burger periodically for years and the patty itself is made from the meat of butchered, aging horses that have worked at a local amusement park, Slagharen.

The idea behind the unusual protein is to ensure that the meat from older horses isn’t wasted when the animals are put down.

The menu at Keuken van het Ongewenst Dier is dependent on seasonal food waste so items fluctuate based on the incoming meats and available ingredients. But there's usually plenty of horse meat to keep the "My Little Pony" burgers on the menu.

Hengeveld says she thinks horse is a tasty, protein rich meat but admits the horse burger is not one of the menu’s bestsellers.

I would not say nay to a well-cooked pony burger.  Preferably on an oat-grain bun.

I still would like to see all the folk who pressed for the two last horse slaughterhouses in America to be shut down taken for a drag.

[MillCreek]

I wonder if My Little Pony meat has sparkles in it.

[Fly320s]

I would not say nay to a well-cooked pony burger. 

You need to rein in the puns.

[MechAg94]

From what I have heard, closing that last slaughterhouse increased issues with animal cruelty as there was now no value at all in an unwanted horse and they are expensive to keep. 

[zahc]

I know there used to be an auction back home in Ohio where people took lame or terminal horses, and the slaughterhouse customers would ultimately buy anything that could stand up. But, things changed, and it's no longer a sure thing; and you can no longer count on the slaughterhouse customers. Legends abound about people taking horse trailers there and leaving with more horses that they brought, because people needed to get rid of horses, and the slaughterhouse customers are not there anymore acting as bidders of last resort, so when people's horses don't sell, they find some empty unattended horse trailer and maroon their nag with some poor unsuspecting auction-goer.

[Scout26]

I know there used to be an auction back home in Ohio where people took lame or terminal horses, and the slaughterhouse customers would ultimately buy anything that could stand up. But, things changed, and it's no longer a sure thing; and you can no longer count on the slaughterhouse customers. Legends abound about people taking horse trailers there and leaving with more horses that they brought, because people needed to get rid of horses, and the slaughterhouse customers are not there anymore acting as bidders of last resort, so when people's horses don't sell, they find some empty unattended horse trailer and maroon their nag with some poor unsuspecting auction-goer.

All the USDA certified Horse slaughterhouses were closed by the Do-Gooders.   The last one was in DeKalb, IL.  Processed unwanted horses and shipped the results via reefer container to Europe and Asia.

Once those 400 people were laid off, stable owners began waking up to the extra horses in their corrals and pastures.  Since they no longer can be used for their intended purpose (riding of one form or another), and can't be sold for meat, they have zero value and are nothing more than an on-going liability.  I have a friend that has an older horse and continues to pay stable fees, even though she can't ride him (English Dressage), so he is nothing but a road apple producing machine.

As usual the Do-Gooders have zero concept of "value" and "market", just feewings...

[zxcvbob]

So is it illegal to butcher one's own horse?  (yeah, I know how big they are and don't think I could manage one, I'm just curious)

[Firethorn]

So is it illegal to butcher one's own horse?  (yeah, I know how big they are and don't think I could manage one, I'm just curious)

You could probably get away with it for the consumption by your own family.  It would be illegal for you to sell it, or probably give it away.

As you mention, they're generally quite a bit bigger than deer, so you'd be looking at 1 being able to feed a substantially sized family for a while.

The problem you run into then is that the number of families capable and willing to do so are limited such that they're a statistical outlier for the disposal of horses.  Even if they're getting horses via auction, they'd be a rounding error.

[MillCreek]

[230RN]

^

I have a friend that has an older horse and continues to pay stable fees, even though she can't ride him (English Dressage), so he is nothing but a road apple producing machine.

As usual the Do-Gooders have zero concept of "value" and "market", just feewings...

Makes me wonder how much per pound that all would come to eventually.

Mid-1980s, a horse got got hit on one of our rural streets, animal control officer had to put it down.  From conversations with onlookers, the animal would have brought $800 from the "killers" (they used to call them that) up in Longmont CO.  And that was 1980ish dollars.

I wonder how come consumption of horsemeat got to be such a no-no in the U.S.  I know during WWII, it could be bought at some butcher shops, but my Mom never bought it.  She was revulsed by the thought, as was many others.

Protein is protein.

Terry

[Firethorn]

^

Makes me wonder how much per pound that all would come to eventually.

Mid-1980s, a horse got got hit on one of our rural streets, animal control officer had to put it down.  From conversations with onlookers, the animal would have brought $800 from the "killers" (they used to call them that) up in Longmont CO.  And that was 1980 dollars.

That seems quite valuable to me.  Googling really quick, it says that a 1200 pound steer (so a bit light for a horse!) gives a 750 pound carcass, which gives ~490 pounds of "boneless trimmed beef"

Even if you figure the horse weighed 1800 (out of a google max of 2200), that would be a ~1,125 carcass and 735 pounds of meat.

Or almost $1/pound, before you figure in the costs to transport, slaughter, process, ship, and sell the meat.

[230RN]

Yes, but there are other byproducts besides mere meat.  Offal for pet food, glue, bone meal, hides, whatnot.  That's true of cows, too, but there's a lot more regulation and care in processing a cow for the table than for horse byproducts, which affects the cash supermarket price for beef.  So, take the $800 with a grain of salt if you want to.  I was going by what I heard anyhow and I wasn't as deaf then as I am now.

I know there was a flap (maybe still is) about the roundups of wild horses for the export meat market.  I chuckle to think that maybe some of the horsemeat noted in the OP came from America's Bureau of Land Management land.

Heh.

Terry

[RoadKingLarry]

That seems quite valuable to me.  Googling really quick, it says that a 1200 pound steer (so a bit light for a horse!) gives a 750 pound carcass, which gives ~490 pounds of "boneless trimmed beef"

Even if you figure the horse weighed 1800 (out of a google max of 2200), that would be a ~1,125 carcass and 735 pounds of meat.

Or almost $1/pound, before you figure in the costs to transport, slaughter, process, ship, and sell the meat.

Last I saw a few days ago feeder steers were running $113 Cwt.

[MechAg94]

I was told that the bottom price for horses used to be $300 to $400 because one could always sell it to the slaughterhouse for that much (or whatever the going rate was).  I am not sure if the rules are the same in every state, but it cost money to put a horse down also. 

At least one person I work with currently has horses (daughter does barrel racing).  From what he says, the farriers (hoof care and horseshoes) make a lot of money.

[BobR]

I have no idea what horses go for these days but don't ever hit one on the Blackfeet rez in Montana. Every horse every hit is a prize roping horse worth many thousands of dollars. Just ask any tourist that ever hit one. 


bob