Why is a horse more special than a cow?

That's a trick question, the horse isn't any more special than a cow. In fact, in many parts of the world, animals like the cow are considered more special than the horse! In India, a country in which the population outnumbers the United States, the slaughter of cattle may be prohibited and their meat may be taboo.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_in_religion)

In America we eat cows, use their hides for leather, and drink their milk. Man countries eat horses, use their hides for leather, and some drink their milk. Who are we to say that we know better than countries like Italy, France, Spain, and Canada when it comes to horse meat? Oh, we're Americans, we're always right. Many Americans laugh at the idea of cows being considered sacred (actually so do I), and beef is so ingrained in our culture that there would be a huge uproar if there was a legitimate movement to make the slaughter of cattle illegal in the U.S. Like the cow, we don't consider horses sacred, yet we ban their slaughter for no logical reason. I don't have a problem with someone trying to persuade me that I shouldn't eat horse meat if they present to me a logical, rational argument. However, I do have a problem when someone tries to legislate their irrational, illogical morality upon me in any way, including by preventing me from even trying horse meat.

STFU, I'll decide things for myself. You won't decide for me.
For some reason the restriction of human consumption of horse meat in the U.S. has generally involved legislation at the state and local levels, back to at least the 1800's when, by today's standards, many bizarre and unfair laws were passed. These restrictions got many Americans accustomed to not eating horse meat. In more recent days, Americans have been exposed to TV shows like My Little Pony which furthered the notion that horses are cutesy and/or majestic animals that we could never dream of eating unlike cows, pigs, sheep, chicken, fish, turkey, etc. Add hardcore vegans and PETA members who will happily go the extra mile to ban ANY type of meat eating, and it will be hard to raise the average apathetic American, who has lived just fine without even trying horse meat, to revoke pointless and in some ways harmful laws. That's why freedom fighters, Libertarians, and horse meat lovers must not allow unreasonable, agenda-driven, domineering people to force unnecessary laws down our throats and take away our freedoms! LEGALIZE HORSE MEAT!

You should be able to eat horse meat if you want to!

"Why We Should Be Eating Horses Instead of Riding Them"

Hilarious, go here: http://theoatmeal.com/story/eat_horses

Quick few interesting facts about horse meat

From http://www.meat-us.com/cuts.php?cut=othermeats

Horse meat contains 25% less fat, nearly 20% less sodium, double the iron and less cholesterol than high quality beef cuts, and when compared to ground beef 25% less fat, 30% less cholesterol and 27% less sodium.

Major Horsemeat Production Countries - production in Metric Tons:
China - 204,000 tons
Mexico - 78,876 tons
Kazakhstan - 55,100 tons
Mongolia - 38,000 tons
Argentina - 55,600 tons
Italy - 48,000 tons
Brazil - 21,200 tons
Kyrgyzstan - 25,000 tons
Worldwide Totals - 720,168 tons

It's so healthy, just eat the stupid animal.

Great article: "Taboo meat should be eaten for animal's welfare, economy, legislator says"

http://eatdrinkandbe.org/article/litigation.0311_law_horsemeat

Here are some excerpts:

Its meat is slightly sweet, tender, low in fat and high in protein. But their companionship is sweet, useful and hard-working, making it taboo in many cultures to eat them. One lawmaker in Missouri, however, wants to revive the delicacy that has been a part of America since the 15th century and make it legal again to eat horse meat in his state.
...
Currently, older horses that cannot be sold to caring owners at auctions are often bought out by “kill buyers” who take the unwanted horses to Mexico or Canada for slaughter.

"Having just one or two plants; that would bring up the competitive market for horses that have no occupational value," said one Missouri kill buyer, in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "It would at least give us a base price to help."

The Missouri legislation would bypass federal regulations passed in 2005 that banned using federal funds for horse slaughter inspections, subsequently banning interstate shipment of horse meat and preventing any facilities from reopening. The last horse-processor closed in 2007 in Illinois.

For the readers from the U.S., remember in grade school how we were taught how wonderful it was that the Native Americans (of which I'm part Algonquin, thank you) used every part of the buffalo that they killed and didn't waste anything? This is the same thing.

An anti-horse slaughter advocate (AKA a loser with a "My Little Pony" complex) says the following:

"The reason the cow is alive is because we want to eat it,” he said. “The reason the horse is alive is because we want it to win the Kentucky Derby. That's very different.”

Uh we want it to win the Kentucky Derby? That's horse crap, many people couldn't give a crap less about the Kentucky Derby, but many people want to eat lean meats.

The top eight countries, with China, Mexico and Kazakhstan at the top of the list, consume about 4.7 million horses a year. Most countries,mainly English-speaking countries, do not consume horse meat because of its taboo, not for safety reasons.

Let's get on board with eating horse meatThanks to www.davidhed.com/blog/ for the pic.

A leading European importer of horse meat: Equinox

http://www.horsemeat.be/

Pictured above is their smoked horse meat.God dang their food looks good!

Sushi restaurant charged with serving whale meat also served horse meat

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/11/california.whale.meat.charge/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Here is the excerpt that mentions horse meat:

Armed with a hidden camera, the two women captured the waitress serving them whale and horse meat and identifying them as such, a federal criminal complaint said. A receipt from the restaurant at the end of the meal identified their selection as "whale" and "horse" with the cost -- $85 -- written next to them.

The sei whale that was served is considered endangered, so that is certainly a good argument for not eating that. But horse meat? EAT UP.

Boy I wish I had gotten some horse meat there while I had the chance

Link: U.S.D.A. Promotes Horse & Goat Meat

From http://www.ighahorseaid.com/USDA.html
Even the U.S.D.A. is down with delicious and nutritious horse meat.
Some excerpts:

Retail cuts of horse are similar to those of beef. The meat is leaner, slightly sweeter in taste, with a flavor somewhat between that of beef and venison. Good horse meat is very tender, but it can also be slightly tougher than comparable cuts of beef. The meat is higher in protein and lower in fat. The meat of animals beyond three years of age is a brilliant vermilion color and has better flavor. The meat of young horses is more tender but lighter in color.
...
Meat from goats and horses is low in fat. A 100-gram (3 1/2 ounces) serving of cooked, roasted meat contains:
...
Horse: 175 calories; 28 grams protein; 6 grams fat; 5 milligrams iron; 55 milligrams sodium; and 68 milligrams cholesterol.

Some yummy looking horse meat.

Great Wikipedia article on horse meat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_meat
This article explains some of the history behind eating horse meat, as well as the reasons some countries have horse meat taboos.
Here's the intro:

Horse meat is the culinary name for meat cut from a horse. It is a major meat in only a few countries, notably in Central Asia, but it forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of many others, from Europe to South America to China. The top eight countries consume about 4.7 million horses a year. For the majority of mankind’s early existence wild horses were hunted as a source of protein.[1][2] It is slightly sweet, tender, low in fat, and high in protein.[3] However, because of the role horses have played as a companion and as a worker, it is a taboo food in many cultures. These historical associations, as well as ritual and religion, led to the development of the aversion to the consumption of horse meat. The horse is now given pet status by many in the western world, which further solidifies the taboo on eating its meat. This avoidance (and the loss of taste for it) is relatively modern, although it arises out of complex historical and cultural origins.

This pic of horse meat in a package is from wikimedia.org

Culture clash: French-Canadians don't have illogical hangups on horse meat

In a scene from one of my favorite shows, The Ultimate Fighter, French-Canadian Patrick Côté requests horse meat in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is astounded when he finds out that it is not available to him.