I own two horses...so I’m certainly not anti-horse.
But, slaughter is sometimes the answer. Its anectdotal; but, the number of cases I see where people have been arrested for animal cruelty has gone up since the ban (cruelty being letting the horse half starve).
My understanding has always been that alot of the horse meat goes to zoos...lions, tigers, etc. Its lean meat, and keeps the zoo animals from getting fat.
My grandparents did their own slaughter. Sheep, mostly, and the odd pig. Cows were for milk and birds were for eggs.