While the ‘horse meat scandal [1]‘ continues to rage in Europe, Chris Merriman (an expat living in Kazakhstan) writes [2] in his blog that horse meat is after all a perfectly edible food:
Here in Kazakhstan, especially by Kazakhs, horse is considered to be a normal meat/edible flesh, in the same way as chicken, beef or fish is. Although horses bred for eating are treated very differently, and indeed look different, to those destined for racing or transport on the steppe, a horse is just another animal that serves a purpose.