Debate over the Fate of Horses Continued with a new posting

Dearest, you are right: horses are not pets.

They’re much more than that to people who live with them. Having a horse is like having a dog you love dearly – only this four-footed friend can (literally) take you anywhere you want to go. Training a horse requires spending hours and days and weeks getting to know every nuance of the horse’s personality – and how to entice them to do what you want. I think one of the reasons little girls love horses so much is that horses are big and powerful – and you feel like a superhero when a touch of your knee sends them leaping over a jump, and a small gesture with your hand can stop them in their tracks.

Eating a horse would be like eating your best friend. It is cannibalism, pure and simple. The world needs more horses, and fewer cars. More people cutting back on red meat, and substituting chicken, fish, and meat substitutes (tofurkey isn’t bad, I hear). What we DON’T need is anyone suggesting that we slaughter our friends for the table. It’s obscene.

You should be ashamed – and if any of our horse-loving grandkids ever see that post on your blog, I don’t think Grandpa Fred is going to be their hero anymore. You’re in the wrong family to post things like that, beloved. And it isn’t just the family you married into who feels that way about it.

Wonder what Khaki Holland would think if she saw that? Or Tim? Or even Conrad? You don’t have to be a child to love horses – and you do have to be totally out of touch with reality not to understand that a horse is just as much “red meat” as the original “long pig” served at a new Zealand Hongi. (In case you’ve forgotten, Chief Hongi was renowned for his innovation in serving up his enemies at the celebration feast after a battle. Of course, he’d save the heads – and return them to their families if the defeated tribe made peace with him.)

Horses aren’t food. They’re friends.