One other point about basahi I learned at Tasaki Market: Rendering horse for food is illegal in the United States but not in Canada, so feral horses are often rounded up and sent by train on a one-way ticket to Canada, which is legal, and then rendered into basashi, which is also legal there, and shipped to Japan. Check out the label the next time you purchase basashi: it will often note its origin as “Canada,” when it was actually born and raised in America. - William