Food for thought by the way for those who think that horses may be in short supply due to "starving hordes" in the US
the US general public sees horses as either pets, work animals or race horses - but one thing they dont see them as is food - consumption of horsemeat in the US is very very low among Americans as compared to other places in the world - it would be the equivalent of eating the family dog or cat for most Americans
also by the time starvation really began to take its toll in the US it was late 1998 to early 1999 - by which time MilGov and CivGov would have known that they had to have horses as they saw gas stocks decline and disappear in many places - thus they would have grabbed as many as possible and guarded them
and Last Submarine notwithstanding most military units are very well placed to stop starving hordes from grabbing vital military items - thats why they get issued machine guns, mines and Claymores - and if people say that they would stand aside or not open fire - after the first few executions by firing squad or hangings for such behavior they would definitely follow orders and open fire.
Plus there are a lot of farmers who know how vital horses would be without gasoline - and they would be doing just as much shooting to protect those horses as the military would be doing.
Take down a starving group of people to save an old cow or some piglets - no. Take down a starving group of people to save your breeding stock or the horses that mean you plant enough to feed yourself and your family versus starve - most farmers would only pause long enough to reload in a situation like that. And given how long the US was at war by late 1997 I would think many farmers would have a lot of ammo and rifles ready and available.
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