People started to eat horse meat in Europe because there was a lot of less desirable, less fertile, light sandy land on which cattle could not be profitably grazed. Too, work horses were slaughtered when they could no longer work - and work horses were seen in many European countries til fairly recently - they're still common in the eastern European countries.
That meant that a pound of horsemeat was cheaper than a pound of beef. During many periods of time, it was the only meat many people could afford. People actually would often get only a few ounces of meat a week, or a month - that's all they could afford. In France, people looked for any inexpensive source of protein - undesirable 'peasant' sources like frogs, cockles, sea urchins, etc.
Beef, eggs, chicken - they were farmed on a small scale with lots of hand labor, and even when I first went there a few decades ago, were just so astronomical in price that for most people, they were rarely purchased treats.
For a long time people in Europe have eaten horsemeat, but it's mostly managed just like cattle - big farms, lots of animals, stocky, heavily muscled breeds are used and they are farmed just like cattle - and appear in the frozen food section in a wrapped package just like beef.
I've only eaten it once, by mistake. It is generally leaner than beef, and a little tougher. It doesn't taste much different, though.
I was a guest at an elderly lady's home in Nimes during a brief period of my life when I still ate meat, though I was already to where I didn't ever buy any or cook any myself - I only ate it if I was a guest and didn't feel I could politely decline.
She served dinner - meat, a salad, an apple tart.
I sliced into the meat, chewed a mouth ful, and said, 'Qu'est que c'est?'
'Oh, c'est du cheval.'
BARF!
