"I could a horse."

Deer, elk, cattle, horse....all herbivores with some browse in their diet. All have a uniqueness to their flavor but all perfectly edible. I agree with dropping in on a tarp. You can also butcher like a quartered elk where you skin on the ground and lay the skin fur side down to stack the meat. Once you've quartered one side you should be able to roll the animal over on to the skinned side and repeat for the other side. I'd personally keep as much meat as I could get. Just temporarily freeze anything not cut into steaks/roasts. Grind some and try it by itself. If the meat has a flavor issue you can either blend it 1lb ground beef to 5lb ground horse or use for chili meat where the spices cover the flavor.

You don't have any tall trees? You throw a rope or chain over a branch, attach one end to the back legs and the other end to your pickup and use the car to pull the carcass up.

Or quarter it on the ground and hang the quarters to work on.

Horse hide makes gorgeous leather. Maybe one of the homesteaders in your area would be willing to help skin and cut in exchange for the leather and a share of the meat. That's a lot of good meat that you are planning on just throwing away. What a waste.

I've considered doing this as well. I do have a good place to do it. The people I bought my place from worked on tractors. I have the area they lifted engines in (2 telephone poles with a bar across the top.) I currently have a 2000lb hoist and gambrel system there so this wouldn't be a huge challenge other that the time needed to do it.

Yup to this. Just be careful of the branch. I used the same branch for two different deer and the branch broke because the rope sawed right through it, with just that little bit of use!

Didn't I just say that?

I've put down quite a few horses with a gun and they usually drop right where they stand, but not always. I wouldn't try to shoot it on the sawdust. Just plan on cutting up the carcass into small enough pieces to be able to move them afterward.

Get as much meat as you can use out of it, too. If you don't have freezer space for it all, try to find someone else who can use some of it...I know, it's not easy to find someone to take horse meat, but give it a try anyway. Ground horse-meat chili can be pretty dang good. Even an old stringy horse, if you cook it all day in a crockpot it turns out pretty tender.

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I blame the media blamers.

It was worth stating more emphatically.

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I blame the media blamers.

get a couple of pulleys and rig a double block and you won't do that again.

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it's not a sport unless the animal can kill you back

be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet

I have a question for you ryanthomas ...I have 5 very old horses here and don't intend to spend the hundreds and hundreds of dollars to put them all down--The last one I had euthanized by a vet went horribly wrong..I want to do it correctly so they feel no pain. I only own a 410 pump--Would a slug do the job? I do know where to shoot them..Or should I just ask a friend to do it with his multiple cache of weapons.

A 410 slug would almost certainly do it. I usually use a .45 Colt and that works well. ETA: just to be clear, I'm talking point blank range. I would definitely not use a 410 from any distance.

Good luck. It's never a fun task, but I truly believe it is a better method than having a vet do it with drugs.

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I blame the media blamers.

When we butchered moose, we'd tug them until the heads were downhill and let them bleed out that way. Then skin by cutting down the belly and skin the up-side, then roll the carcass onto the skin and take off the other side. When butchering cows, pigs, etc, we use a sawzall electric saw with a long blade, and slice the animal right down the backbone after skinning and gutting. Works a charm. If you're butchering in your yard/field, you can probably run an extension cord for the saw.

My son built me a chain hoist for our family butchering, but I suspect a full-size horse will not only be too long for it, but I would be concerned about the joists it's hooked over.

Good luck! I just don't have room right now, but it certainly is tempting!
Kit

Thank you so much for your information. I truly appreciate it. The oldest horse is 31, and cannot take the cold weather anymore--she could barely make it out of her stall yesterday....it's really sad--but will be best for her. It's something though--3 days ago when we had 70 degree weather she was out in the pasture bucking and running...as soon as the temperature drops her arthritis kicks in. I have had her knees and stifles done every year in the spring and fall for the last 3 years-but the vet says it won't pay to do her anymore--she is bone on bone. Again-thanks for the information.

What you said was "I would assume putting her down by injection from the vet would taint the meat."

Which is true. Should have probably expanded on this as my statement was meant to emphasize the meat should not be used at all, not only not safe for human consumption, it is not safe for animal consumption either, which is why zoos can use the meat either. The euthanasia drugs are very toxic and I'm not sure, but I think in some places the animal that is put down with those drugs have to be disposed of in certain ways. These are much more toxic than Bute or many of the other drugs used to treat health problems.

I'm having a REAL hard time bringing myself to do it. This has been a very good ole mare.....
It's tough when your heart says one thing and your head another.

I know the feeling. I'm sorry you and your mare are having to go through this. There's no shame in asking a good friend or neighbor to do it.

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I blame the media blamers.

It'll make you sad for sure, maybe even for a couple days, but once you have that first pot roast, you'll begin to feel better about the whole thing and be glad that you didn't waste the meat. I think Ryan was just referring to a friend or neighbor for the kill shot, but I would try to enlist a few friends to help with the entire process, as the comradery will help emotionionally, not to mention the sheer scale of butchering a horse.

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http://www.lindsayfarmonsilvercreek.blogspot.com/

I had a friend once tell me that our hearts tether souls to earth when they really want to fly free.

I know this is hard for you. I have held many beloved dogs in my arms and sobbed while the vet eases them from their suffering and I have had to have a beloved horse put down.

I agree. You need friends to help you right now. I commend your bravery for not wanting your old friend's meat to go to waste. I don't think I could make that decision unless I was starving. My thoughts are with you.

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I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here!

We had to put down two horses last year after a horrible trailering accident. It was a very traumatic ordeal. There are some specific instructions for putting a horse down that make the dispatch more swift. I believe you are supposed to draw a line from left ear to right eye and another line from right ear to left eye. The shot goes where the two lines cross. Point blank.

Belle

I'm definitely not eating her---you must have confused my post with a previous one that I said it was a shame that someone ELSE might want her for meat...besides..she's 31 years old! I bet she would be awful tough! if anyone would want her meat that lives close they may pm me.

Thank you all for the kind thoughts, it is very much appreciated. I decided it will be time after Thanksgiving--I don't want my kids and I to be upset during this time with family and all we are truly thankful for in our lives...
She will be buried at the far end of the pasture where she just loved to rub her belly back and forth on the thistles there.. goofy horse
I have her shoes off and plan to make a marker with them and her stall plate.