ABSTRACT
The truth of the matter is that the heavy horse and mule business is full of people who, while very fond of their animals, are neither hopelessly sentimental about them, nor do they have an incurable itch to show off with them in public. According to EQUUS, European markets were taking 90% of the US horsemeat abroad for human consumption at that time. Horsemeat offers nearly as much protein per pound as beef and pork, with far less fat and at a somewhat lower cost. The breeding of Belgian and Percheron horses in their native countries is, and has been for some time, geared to the butcher's block as much as to the harness and collar. In the 1930s, the Pioneer Seed Company in Iowa used a lot of draft horses in their operation. They were developing many different inbred lines involving small plots. It was a highly specialized farming operation that the horses lent themselves to very well.
