I had a neighbor in the adirondack hills who was a child in Berlin during ww2. His dad had been a milkman (milchmensch?). When war seemed imminent, dad butchered and canned his two horse milk wagon (milchwagen?) team, and the family lived on the proceeds through the food shortage years. His cabin in the foot hills was a retreat he planned to use if needed, and it was chock full of canned goods, and strongly built. He chose not to keep horses. Or eat them. My old man used to dine on the occasional horse tenderloin during the depression. He was attending vet school: money was tight, and dead horses were plentiful.

Horse steak was on the menu at the Harvard Faculty Club until the late seventies

Gehnghis Khans warriors dined on a horse blood, using their mounts as mobile snack bars, and permitting long term non-fatal harvesting of horse protein.

OTOH, cats, dogs, rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs are easier to raise and commonly eaten.

Bon appetit.