# horse slaughter price?



## mink

i see alot of threads on the horse slaughter but i have yet to see anything on the price for pound of these horses. anyone know?


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## Irish Pixie

Horse slaughter hasn't reopened in the US yet so any per lb price would be found in either Canada or Mexico. Even when there was slaughter in the US the price per lb wasn't openly displayed like it is for beef or pork.

I have no idea what the US kill buyers are paying for horses, but it can't be much.


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## mountainwmn

The "rescues" around here want you to believe that slaughter price on an average QH is around $700. But somehow they are worth more for meat if they are pretty and broke to ride. But I have seen horses at the sale not being able to be sold for $10, so I'm guessing its actually pretty low.


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## lasergrl

Friend sold a maniac mare to a kill buyer for $25


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## oregon woodsmok

It used to be 15 cents a pound, back when horses could be sold for slaughter. Butcher horses most usually sold for under $100, unless they were exceptionally large and plump.

I can't imagine it pays to truck them to Canada or Mexico unless they are being purchased right next to the border.


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## Rogo

Makes me wonder how different the price was from beef/pork/chicken when you could buy horse meat at the grocery store here in the U.S. My mom bought it. Meat was/is meat. Horse meat wasn't discussed anymore than the other meats.

Don't remember when the stores stopped selling it.


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## starjj

I wonder how much it sells for if you buy it at the butcher shop. I googled it but could find no real answer. Some sites said it can sell for $25-$30 a lb! Another said .75-.80 is what the slaughter house sells it for. Anyone know if you wanted to buy it in Europe or Canada what you would pay?


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## oregon woodsmok

It sells high in Europe, although I don't know the price. All meat is really high priced in Europe.

Horses slaughtered in Canada have to be shipped chilled (probably frozen) and shipping costs would be very high to send freezer containers to Europe.


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## tinknal

When slaughter was legal here it was like any other commodity.

I saw prices range from 15 cents to $1 per pound.


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## unregistered41671

I have a friend who used to buy them and send tractor trailer loads to New Jersey. The slaughter house was closed down.I think he has sold many for better than $1000.00


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## haypoint

Many horses in Michigan that sell at Auction for under $600 go to slaughter plants in Canada.
Three years ago I sold a Regestered Percheron Mare at Auction. She was 15 years old and hadn't been hitched in a few years. She was sound in every way, quiet and easy to lead. She was 17 hands and weighed near a ton. She brought $800 and the buyer wasn't interested in her registration paperwork. A semi load of horses left that sale, headed to Canada.


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## beccachow

It seems to me that the buyers go for the most horses they can get. It amazes me that a horse that is skin and bones gets sold for meat. I am betting they are used for dog food filler etc. I recall driving past the Alpo plant and seeing horses grazing in a field in front many years ago.

The mare I will most likely be getting was originally going for $10 but the meat buyer bid her up to $150 before giving up, and that mare was a walking skeleton. So if she weighed say, maybe only 900 pounds and the guy bid up to $150 on her, it must be worth it somehow. :shrug:


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## oregon woodsmok

It might not have been the meat buyer who bid her up so high. Some sellers will get a friend to drive the price up as long as it looks like someone is determined to buy. They see that someone wants the animal and they can drive them up by $25 or $50 and get more $.


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## beccachow

Hmmmm...good point, Smoke. I have seen this in action myself.

I used to hate going to the sales where someone would bring out a bucket of supplies, as in ten halters. They would give them to 10 people at whatever the bidding price was, and people kept bidding. I was like, STOP, idiots!!!!


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## tinknal

Just because a horse sells skinny doesn't mean it will ship skinny. Some buyers buy them to fatten up.


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## farmgirl6

beccachow said:


> It seems to me that the buyers go for the most horses they can get. It amazes me that a horse that is skin and bones gets sold for meat. I am betting they are used for dog food filler etc. I recall driving past the Alpo plant and seeing horses grazing in a field in front many years ago.
> 
> I think they banned horse meat in dog food back in the 70's..do not know why...
> 
> The mare I will most likely be getting was originally going for $10 but the meat buyer bid her up to $150 before giving up, and that mare was a walking skeleton. So if she weighed say, maybe only 900 pounds and the guy bid up to $150 on her, it must be worth it somehow. :shrug:


I think they banned horse meat in dog food back in the 70's..do not know why...


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