There are still a few fine restaurants that serve horsemeat in the Scandanvian countries, though the practice was almost eliminated by the Christians- it was one of the practices they used to vilify the Vikings.
In 732 A.D. Pope Gregory III began a concerted effort to stop this pagan practice, and it has been said that the people of Iceland were reluctant to embrace Christianity for some time largely over the issue of giving up horse meat. In some countries the effects of this prohibition by the Catholic Church have lingered, and horse meat prejudices have progressed from taboos to avoidance to abhorrence. Today, however, horse meat is commonly consumed in many European countries.

I'm Canadian, and I found this article on horsemeat which talks about it from our country's angle:

Out to pasture
Justin Thompson, CBC News Online | Dec. 23, 2002


From beloved pets and newborn colts, to racehorses past their prime, more than 60,000 Canadian horses end up in meat packing plants every year. And although Canadians aren't especially fond of horse meat, Canada is the fourth-largest exporter in the world, according to French meat authority MHR Viandes. France, along with Italy and Japan, consumed well over half of the 13,167 tonnes of horse meat exported by Canada in 2000.

Canadian horse meat exports (2000)
Country Horse meat (tonnes)
France 4,113
Japan 3,245
Italy 1,407
Other 4,402
TOTAL 13,167
"An opportunity exists to further develop the health-conscious market as horse meat is low in fat and cholesterol"
- Manitoba Agriculture and Food.

Globally, Europeans have the largest appetite for horse, with Italy leading the herd. According to MHR Viandes, Italians ate 78,500 tonnes of horse meat in 2001. That was up almost 11 per cent from the previous year. Industry experts say the increase was part of a Europe-wide spike in demand. They attribute it, in large part, to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, as Europeans abandoned beef in favour of other meats.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/features/horse_meat_industry.html


Horses were a central feature of religious sacrifical worship in Scandinavia:

Also all kinds of livestock were killed in connection with it [the sacrificial feast], horses also; and all the blood from them was called hlaut [sacrifical blood], and hlautbolli, the vessel holding that blood; and hlautteinar, the sacrifical twigs. These were fashioned like sprinklers, and with them were to be smeared all over with blood the pedestals of the idols and also the walls of the temple within and without; and likewise men present were to be sprinkled with blood. But the meat of the animals was to be boiled and to serve as food at the banquet. Fires were to be lighted in the middle of the temple floor, and kettles hung over them.
Ch 14 Hákonar saga Gó›a (The Saga of Hakon the Good)
This report is supported by archaeology, especially at Skedemosse on the island of Öland in the Baltic. From the third and fourth centuries C.E., horses formed a part if ritual sacrifices and sacrificial feasts at Skedemosse. This site was at one time a lake, and the practice seems to have been to build large fires on the lakeside over which the horse-meat was stewed. After the feasting, the remains of the sacrificed animals was consigned to the waters of the lake. Analysis of the bones from the lake show that 35% were from horses, with smaller numbers coming from cattle, sheep and goats, and a very few from pigs, deer, and dogs. This is a completely different picture from normal dietary habits, as midden remains from area farms show that sheep and then cattle were the most common food animals. The name Skedemosse is thought to derive from Old Norse skeid, meaning either a fight between stallions or a horse-race, and it has been suggested that either horse-fights or races were used to select which animals should be used for sacrifice and which ones should be kept to breed (Myths and Symbols p. 55). The horse was used in other types of sacrifice as well. Adam of Bremen reports:

It is the custom moreover every nine years for a common festival of all the provinces of Sweden to be held at Uppsala.... The sacrifice is as follows: of every living creature they offer nine head, and with the blood of those it is the custom to placate the gods, but the bodies are hanged in a grove which is near the temple; so holy is that grove to the heathens that each tree in it is presumed to be divine by reason of the victim's death and putrefacation. There also dogs and horses hang along with men. Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, Book IV, section 27
from: http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/horses.htm

Putrefaction aside :- {
Speaking purely from my own opinion, I find horse no more offensive than any other kind of meat: if I didn't know it personally, I'll eat it. But then, that's just me...Retail cuts of horse are similar to those of beef. The meat is leaner, slightly sweeter in taste, with a flavor somewhat between that of beef and venison. Good horse meat is very tender, but it can also be slightly tougher than comparable cuts of beef. The meat is higher in protein and lower in fat. The meat of animals beyond three years of age is a brilliant vermilion color and has better flavor. The meat of young horses is more tender but lighter in color.

hungry enough to eat a horse?