I ate my horse after it was put down - social media fury as rider gorges on her 'best friend'

Sometimes you are so hungry you say could eat a horse.

But a Swedish rider has caused furore on social media by doing just that when her favourite steed had to be put down after suffering serious injuries.

Harness racer Helena Ståhl turned her one horse – named Iffy Mant - into one course and is now defending her decision to do so after a fierce backlash.

The 24-year-old told Swedish paper The Local: “For me there were no alternatives … to eat an animal that had a good life felt right for me.

“I told my mother that if I could not eat meat from an animal that had a good life, I will never eat meat again. To eat meat from an animal that might never even get to see the sun, nobody thinks is odd. But to eat an animal that you, yourself, have taken care of is suddenly the oddest thing anybody has heard. I think that is scary.”

Ståhl added there was nothing iffy about it - her horse tasted a “lot like beef” and that she and all her friends gorged on the animal.

She said: “They claim it’s the most delicious meat they have ever eaten,” describing how it could be used when making meals such as spaghetti bolognese, tacos or chili con carne.

She aded on Facebook: "Maybe it sounds terrible... how I can eat one of my very best friends? Either I ate her up, or the worms did it."

But despite it being quite delectable, Ståhl said dining on horse has ultimately sparked “varied reactions” since she first told people about her decision on Facebook a few weeks ago.

“Everything from support and curious questions to wrinkled noses and hatred,” Ståhl said. “I never thought that it would get this much attention because to me, this is a normal decision, and I know other people who have done the same thing.”

Many of the hateful remarks were posted on the Facebook page of the Swedish tabloid Expressen.

“You don’t eat your friend, regardless if it is a dog, cat, horse or human,” fumed one user.

“Weird girl! How the hell can you be like that?” another wrote. “She should have shown respect and gratitude towards everything the poor horse has done for her. But she probably could not afford to cremate or bury or let the slaughter house take care of it.”

But nag all you like… Ståhl isn’t bothered.

She concluded: “I think everyone should think another step ahead. It is not what we do to the animals when they are dead, it’s about what we do to the animals when they are alive.”

One fellow racehorse owner said: "I honestly don't understand all this hysteria. Mankind has eaten horsemeat since ancient times." Another added: "Why throw away the meat? From a veterinary viewpoint, if not there is no objection, it was her horse."