Shell Cordovan comes from...?

[dieworkwear]



Interesting stuff... however, I guess what I am curious about is are horses specifically bred and then killed primarily for the hides or are the hides obtained from horses that were put to sleep for other reasons then the hides are procured. I assume the latter for pragmatic reasons but just curious if others know specifically.

There are members here, such as Ron Rider, who are in a much better position to answer this. However, from my understanding, all horse hides come from France, where killing horses for meat is still legal. In countries such as the US, it isn't. Horsehides, then, then are a by product of the horse meat trade. This isn't to say that it's incidental though. Obviously, if a producer can get extra profit from a horse's skin, it affects his economic decisions and pricing strategies, which in turn affects consumers' purchasing habits. In simple terms, if people didn't buy horse leather, horse meat would probably be more expensive, which in turn means less people would buy it.

I say this only because there's often this conception bandied about that horse hides and deer bones are just "by-products," and no animal was killed solely for these reasons. Obviously, no animal has been, but that doesn't mean they're not factored into the production and consumption processes.

Horse leather from France is then bought up by tanneries in Chicago, Japan, and Argentina, where it's then turned into shell cordovan.

 

[PhiPsi32]

Interesting, when I had my horse steak, the menu listed the source of the meat as USA.

 

[dieworkwear]



Interesting, when I had my horse steak, the menu listed the source of the meat as USA.

According to Wikipedia, there are no horse meat slaughterhouses in the United States. At least none for the last five years.

 

[Mr. Moo]

Horse meat is very good.

 

[PhiPsi32]

According to Wikipedia, there are no horse meat slaughterhouses in the United States. At least none for the last five years.

My horse dinner was about three years ago. Could have been an old menu.

Horse meat is very good.

Yes! I would order it again.

 

[Nicola]



It would be rather difficult to run around asking people to give you their dead horses...

More likely the other way around. What do you do with a dead horse? It'll take one hell of a shoe box to bury a mare in the garden.


Horse dies and you call the people that deal with large dead animals.

Don't they use horses for dog food in the US?

 

[Cotton Mather]

Horses raised in the US have been shipped across the border to be slaughtered during the ban. I'm fairly sure that the ban on horse slaughter for human consumption has been lifted fairly recently, though.

 

[ethanm]

More likely the other way around. What do you do with a dead horse? It'll take one hell of a shoe box to bury a mare in the garden.
Horse dies and you call the people that deal with large dead animals.
Don't they use horses for dog food in the US?

It has been illegal to slaughter horses in the US for a while but that ban was just lifted. Regardless, you don't use the meat of an animal that died of natural causes or disease in food. We bury our passed horses around the property with a little statue to mark the spot. It's not hard to dig a big enough hole with a backhoe!

 

[Slammo]

Horses raised in the US have been shipped across the border to be slaughtered during the ban. I'm fairly sure that the ban on horse slaughter for human consumption has been lifted fairly recently, though.

This.

These are often horses sold at auctions by farmers who can no longer afford to keep them. They are generally purchased "on the cheap," jammed into trailors and then driven without food or water, usually into Canada, to be sold to slaughterhouses. Conditions at these slaughterhouses is generally questionable at best. It appears that the whole animal is used, although, beware consuming large quantities of the meat - there has been debate about the meat being unsafe due to the drugs (anti-inflammatory etc) that most horses are administered throughout their lifetimes. I'm not passing judgement as to whether one should or should not purchase cordovan shoes, consume horse meat etc but this is the reality of horse slaughter and where our cordovan comes from. It's not from race and farm horses that have reached a natural, happy end.

Google searching for terms like "horse slaughter", "horse meat safety" etc will yield far more information...

 

[Northampton Novice]

I thought Shell came from Unicorns only?

 

[SuitedDx]



I thought Shell came from Unicorns only?

Only Whiskey and Ravello

 

[Northampton Novice]



Only Whiskey and Ravello

Touché

 

[mr monty]



I thought Shell came from Unicorns only?

only shell driving shoes (also used for flying)

 

[Gdot]



I thought Shell came from Unicorns only?

What happens to the rainbows and butterflies when they kill the unicorns?

 

[akatsuki]



What happens to the rainbows and butterflies when they kill the unicorns?

You mush up the butterflies to stain the unicorn skin.