Who Am I?

My name is April Bingham-Stillings. I am a 46 year-old native North Carolinian and a horse owner, of my wonderful ex-racehorse Zevons Wind. AKA "Zevon" <3, yet had no idea America's young, healthy, beautiful, still useful horses, NOT unwanted, but just unlucky ones, were being driven to the slaughter lines to become steaks, until the 'FOBs' came together and began discussing. Pregnant mares, mares with foals at their sides, yearlings heading to the most horrifying nightmare imaginable.

You see, I had heard of unfortunate horses that would end up "going to the killers". In my mind I wanted to believe that they were only the very old or sick, incurably lame, or had such bad behavior problems (probably stemming from abuse) that they were dangerous. And I actually belived that it was somehow done humanely!! I thought it went to pet food, which was actually stopped 30 years ago (although some parts are still used), not steaks, a delicacy for human consumption overseas!! And that old, infirm horses are not wanted; young, healthy, "meatier" (ugh!!) horses are preferred by the meat buyers. Foals are made into sushi. I could turn away no more!!!
A special shout-out to my wonderful friend ExcellerNancy, with whom this blog, and my enthusiasm for ending this, would not be possible, and for being the best, sweetest friend ever. She is the most enthused, gentle-hearted but beautiful Warrior Princess against Horse Slaughter.

But back to me eh.., my family are also great supporters: my husband David and my 2 stepchildren, and my wonderful son Dustin, who is attending college in SC.
My stepdaughter Miranda would have no problem speaking very articulately on Capitol Hill for the horses; she's 8. They are the rest of my life, along of course with wonderful Zevon and our dog Silver, a Border Collie/Aussie cross. I was an optician for over 20 years, but after marrying my husband became a stay-at-home Mom, as they are special needs kids.
It is the hardest job I have ever had, and it is hard to find time to ride. But Zevon is up in years, too, and he waits patiently and kicks back in his lovely pasture where I board him.
I absolutely love photography and photo editing, and I love Fleetwood Mac (I am one of the ultra-fans) and The Beatles. My husband was a professional musician for many years so music is a big part of our lives. We live in beautiful North Carolina, where I was born, but got stuck in SC for many years. It is good to be "home". We are Christians, and I do feel led by God to help these creatures, one of his most magnificent, noble creations. I got on my first horse at age 2.
In closing, please come back, and comments are welcome. There is so much more information to know and catch up with, as some great progress has recently been made. Please consider stepping up to the plate and helping the animal that built America by our sides.There will be much more to come, updates and how you can help. More about about Barbaro. Without him, many, many of us would
never have known America's "dirty little secret".

God bless you all if you've read this far and God bless the horses.

We will always believe in Barbaro and his Divine Purpose.

What is Campaining for Barbaro?

If you are unfamiliar with Barbaro, he was a magnificent thoroughbred racehorse who was the 2006 Kentucky Derby champion. Undefeated. In the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, Barbaro horrifyingly took a misstep and fractured his right hind ankle, into many many shattered pieces. Dr. Dean Richardson, at Penn State's New Bolton Center Equine Hospital, performed successful surgery on the leg, which he likened to a 'bag of crushed ice'. It took over 23 screws and plates to hold Barbaro's leg together. Brabaro did well, from May until July, when he suffered the complication of laminitis, and we all held vigil. He got better, we were very hopeful, thankful. But then more complications followed, although thankfully Barbaro had several good months, and got to finally go outside and graze and explore under faithful Dr. R's guidance. To our never ending dismay, Barbaro eventually developed the dreaded laminitis in both front legs, and was humanely euthanized on January 29, 2007.
All horse folk, and many who never even thought much of horses, had fallen in love with him. It was easy to see that something special, from expert track veterans to the lay person. He was meant for great things, and he certainly accomplished - and is and will continue to accomplish, post-humously - many, many, great things. You will hear and learn much about Barbaro in this blog. We campaign state by state as well as united, in the honor of his name, graciously given to us to use by his owner, another hero for horses, Mrs.Gretchen Jackson, to complete the tasks that Barbaro began - to help horses. We will raise funds for and support the Barbaro Fund at New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania where Barbaro was treated, cared for, and loved. His (separate) Barbaro Laminitis Fund is named for the terrible disease which ultimately took our beloved Barbaro from this Earth, as well as so many horses, including the "Horse of the Century" - Secretariat.

You will learn much more about Barbaro on these pages and the good he did for people. It is simply immeasurable and the most amazing coming together in love, hope, prayer, and belief, that I have ever witnessed. We had him for eight months, but none of the Fans of Barbaro
or his campaigners will ever forget. In my opinion he is a true, God-sent, phenomenon.

We call it the "Barbaro Effect". It has reached far and wide, all across the globe, and some of what I consider to be miracles have occurred. Our faith had no bounds when we came together as a family. As all know now, Barbaro did not win the Triple Crown, after no winner in 28 years, but God had much bigger plans for this special horse and athlete. Our job is to keep going in his honor to complete all of these life or death tasks, and to love one another.

What is HR503 / S311?

As you may have guessed, it's all about horses. The current bills to protect America's horses from the inhumane transport and slaughter, many while still alive and conscious, of over 100,000 mostly young and healthy horses last year for export to use for human consumption. Yes. Horse steaks being shipped overseas for fine dining in Belgium and Japan. Yeah, we don't like that. Not one bit. Over 80% of American's vehemently oppose this horrific practice. This has been worked on by legislators and supporters for going over ten years now. California outlawed slaughter of horses ten years ago. Yet, they still are trucked over the borders ny 'kill buyers'. Why is this atrocity going on in the U.S. still? For one thing, lack of public information about the ugly practice of slaughtering horses, the plants choose to call "harvesting". There are only three slaughterhouses left in the U.S. that still slaughter horses. [edit 9/07: the 3 have now been closed due to legislation in those states, IL & TX, but we STILL must enact federal legislation, as they are being shipped by the thousands to Mexico and Canada, where conditions are even worse] It is a long, hellish ride to a horrible death for these horses - packed like sardines in double-decker semis without food or water. Sometimes the trip is a thousand miles or more.

Welcome everyone!

Welcome to the blogspot of Campaining for Barbaro/N.C. My name is April Bingham-Stillings and I am the Ambassador for our group for the state of North Carolina. I will give you a brief synopsis of what this group of state ambassadors is about and how you can help if so inclined. I hope that you will find helpful information when you visit and that you will take some time to learn why thousands are "CFB". Some of the information in this blog is not pleasant, and will hopefully bring to you great emotion to realize that as a U.S. citizen, you have a right to know about the things you care about that go on in the U.S. - try as they might to hide them, ignore them, and continue to grease palms. You also have a voice in all such matters in this country, and since Fall 2006, we have proven that these voices can be heard and make a difference, as we believe thousands of calls made by the Friends of Barbaro (which you will learn about if you are visiting and are not an F.O.B. ;) gave the extra push to vote Bill HR503 through the House of Representatives on Sept. 7, 2006. A great victory - but then the bill languished in the lame duck senate, meaning all the supporters of the bill had to completely start over.