 According to equine-welfare advocates, the physiology of the equine cranium is such that neither the penetrating captive bolt gun nor gunshots are reliable means of killing (or stunning) a horse; the animal may be only paralyzed.Unless properly checked for vital signs, a horse may remain conscious and experience pain during skinning and butchering.Horse meat was a traditional protein source during food shortages, such as the early-20th-century World Wars.