[ShadyBro]

Rescued from the event.
Bought by Phantom.of.the.Night.

"This sweet old mare was brought to the auction house with only one piece of information - a large vet record. According to the papers, which thankfully had a large commentary section for special information, a vet was called in by a concerned samaritan after seeing some large gaping wounds on the Walkers crest. The owner of the animal refused to pay, quoted repeatedly saying 'found it, selling it, not paying for care' or some rambled version of the phrase in spanish. From what the vet and the person that had called in could gather, this little SWE had been used in a Spanish bull fighting ring. The bull had gored the rider and then sent a large horn straight through the Walker's crest before being slaughtered itself. Usually in bull fights the horses that receive injuries are killed on the spot rather than receiving medical care, but this particular injury didn't seem terrible, so the rider had kept his steed. However when he went to ride her again, she was far too flighty and afraid of him. Instead of killing her the man gave her away to the first taker, and the person that had taken her paid no mind to her injuries either. Upon hearing all of this both the vet and the samaritan attempted to purchase the walker, but the man had already planned on sending her into slaughter. She was shipped to the auction house feedlot to do just that - before our rescuers found her of course. Her injuries had already healed into pretty nasty scars, and its obvious her vocal cords had been cut as well, another common cruelty from the bull fighters that she had so desperately tried to please. Shes extreamly head shy and will need a lot of training in order to be able to get a halter or any sort of reins on her, never mind a saddle. But surprisingly, she has a heart of gold with the right people."

Owner: X
Show Name: La Adelita
Barn Name: Salvadora
Gender: Mare
Post: X

Halter will be added once all tasks are complete.

[Phantom.of.the.Night]

Awe! I absolutely adore her and her story<3

Show Name: La Adelita
Barn Name: Salvadora

Behind the Name:
"La Adelita" came to signify a woman of strength and courage, the archetype of a woman warrior
"Salvadora" is translated to "savior" in Spanish

[Phantom.of.the.Night]

Time: 6:00 am
Location: SWE Auction House
---
The sights were horrendous. My ears were flooded with the high pitched whinnies of what was left of the hundreds of SWE's, all crammed into tight spaces. Everywhere you look there is muck on the ground, and trash left from the auction workers who apparently had no care for the sanitation of the place. Rescuers were carefully spread among the pens, singling out some of the SWE's to be taken to their new rehabilitation homes, and possibly forever homes.

I already own two other SWE's, and adore them both. One, Spartan, came from this very location a few months previously. Since then, he had come a long way. However, there were still quite a few that needed to be rescued, and the amount of people coming forth to help them was growing sparse. Since my love for these amazing creatures is strong, I have decided to come in and take one of the ones that still needed a home.

I headed to the center of the building, where the auction ring was originally. Now, in its place, there is a stand set up with stacks of adoption paperwork from the rescue team. "Why, hello there ma'am! It seems you have been here before, you look familiar," said the team member. I nodded, "That is correct! I rescued one of your boys, Spartan, from here a few months ago. He is one of the barn favorites now haha." "That sounds amazing! I am so glad that he is doing well. I remember that horse! I was the guy trying to get him in the trailer. Anyway, are you here to snag another SWE? There are still a number of them that need homes," he asked. "Yep! I would love to give another one the chance it deserves. Give me whatever one you want! I have no behavioral preference," I responded. I filled out some paperwork (pretty much saying I was going to give consent to let people come by anytime without warning to check progress, as well as that I would get them a vet checkup in the near future) and handed it in before the worker got up and led me back down the pathway to meet my new SWE.

It did not take long to get to this pen, as it was up near the front. Inside, stood a sweet little mare, who came to greet us as we approached the gate. It was obvious that she was a sweetheart and must have been very eager to please before she was put here. She kept her head away from me at all times, so I only got to touch her belly. "Don't worry that she is not letting you touch her head right now. She is a bit head shy, and has been since that bull got her," the worker said. "She was a bull fighter," I said. I was completely shocked, but now that I see the tufts of hair missing from her crest and the nasty scars, it made more sense. "Oh yes. She was prized, but they paid little attention to her wounds. She is terrified of halters, or really any tack. But, she is a sweetie, and she should not have many problems in gaining your trust."
---
Time: 8:30 am
Location: SWE Auction House and the Barn
---
I pulled my trailer around and had her loaded in before I took off to go back to the barn. She was very quiet back there the whole ride, unlike Spartan was. A few hours later, I was back at the barn, where I once again released her into the arena where Spartan was kept. I brought out some food and water and let her settle in for a little bit. She was not as thin because the rescuers had started giving her some basic care, but now it will be a bit more specific to her. While she was settling, I called in to the vet to get an appointment for her at the end of this week. I knew that by then, she should be more willing to trust me. She was already very sweet toward me, and I knew that she would make a fantastic companion.
---
Time: 4:20 pm
Location: the Barn
---
The whole day she had been resting, so I thought that maybe I would try and touch her a little bit. I entered the ring and tossed some treats to her, which she graciously picked up and ate without a thought. I took a few steps closer to her until she began to start to take a step back, in which I then turned around and began to walk the other way with a treat in my hand. She followed close behind until I turned around, where she would stop. I continued to walk forward and stopped again, this time, not turning around. I felt a nuzzle at my hand and I released the treat. Slowly, I turned around and softly brushed her shoulder a little bit.

The next few days, I continued this process, and eventually, she got to the point where she would walk by my side and allow me to pet anywhere on her except her legs, neck, and head. She still despised halters, but that was ok for now, because she could stand still on command. Tomorrow, the vet would come, and I made sure that he knew that she does not like being touched in those certain areas. After the vet comes, I plan to do some work on her head shyness and get her to let me pick up her hooves.

[Phantom.of.the.Night]

Time: 7:30
Location: Barn Arena
---
Dr. Tim arrived to the barn early that morning because he was scheduled for a surgery later that day. "Howdy there, I see you have another case for me to check up on. Who's this gorgeous girl," he asked. "Tim, meet Salvadora! She was used as a bull fighter's steed, as you can see by these scars on her neck. Make sure you are careful around her neck and face. She does not really like to be touched there yet, but we are gonna work on it." "Not a problem ma'am. I can come check up on her teeth a bit later. Her eyes seem ok to me, but I will need to check those scars on her neck to make sure everything is good there," Time replied. He sat down his box and walked up to Salvadora slowly. He stuck out his hand so she could smell him and then stroked her shoulder and belly. He slowly worked his way up to the neck, but she started bobbing her head up and down, so he just looked at the scars by setting some special fat-gaining grains on the ground for her to eat.

"Her scars seem to be healed up ok, and I don't see any bacterial infections, so I think she is ok there. I would just like to see that her hooves get fixed up a bit because they are a bit cracked up and long. Besides that, put on a little bit of weight and this lady will be good to go! Just let me know when you would like me to come back and check her teeth. As long as she does not have any problems eating or any noticeable swelling, I think that she should be fine. I will give you some of these supplements to help with the weight and help the hooves get some strength," Tim instructed, "and don't worry about the bill! Consider this another Christmas present to Salvadora."

"Thank you so much Tim! I owe you big time! I know that Salvadora will grow to appreciate this, haha," I said. Tim got in his car and pulled away. I then called the local horse store to see if the supplements were available and the pharmacy to order the medicines. "That was a good girl Salvadora! You are gonna be so amazing when we get you back in top health baby girl," I praised.

[Phantom.of.the.Night]

So, the last few weeks have gone by very quickly, and everyday Salvadora made progress! Today, she is still very headshy, but is at least letting me pet around her face (though she still dislikes being touched around her ears and poll). The vet came in for her last checkup a few days ago, and then she was cleared for basic riding training. So, we are so far starting simply with a saddle pad, and letting her smell and nudge at it. I hope to someday have her retrained as a trail horse because I feel like she is not happy just sitting around (of course the trails would not be super strenuous, so it would basically just be easy trails in the woods, or walking down to the stream).

She has become very popular among the barn girls! Everyday, I see them sneaking a treat or two for her, or asking if they can groom her, or seeing if they could take her out to the side pasture to let her graze. For her, life has gotten a lot better and she is happy. Also exciting from yesterday, I got a call from the local news station, and they would like to put us on TV to help promote the rescue event and get people to donate to the cause! So many locals have come to me asking how they can help and some even asking where to go to take one of their own in. Overall, this experience with Salvadora has been very rewarding, and I cannot wait to see what else her future holds.