Okay, so she's only a baby - 7 months old. And she was born in captivity. Her mother had been caught last September from the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area, while pregnant with this little girl. 

Ruby was born at the Litchfield BLM Facility near Susanville. So she has had some experiences with humans, but has never actually been handled before going to the Vallejo Satellite Adoption Weekend.

Still, I am amazed at how problem-free she is! She's quite happy to be petted, and by Day 2, leads easily and willingly. And NOTHING bothers her! Motorcycles, chainsaws, power saws, flapping tarps, rain, dogs - she's seen it all in her first week with us, and nothing freaks her at all. I would have expected much worse from a barn-raised domestic animal!

Reasoning that there's no substitute for spending time with a new horse (or child, or whatever) we set up an old car seat in the corner of her pen, and spent the first couple of days just sitting there with her.

The only thing that does bother her is being left alone. And, she would LOVE to go live with Silver, our 1/2 draft gelding, who "babysits" her at night from the far corner of his field, about 50 feet away from her.  For the first couple of days, whenever she was "abandoned" even for a minute she would rear up and hit the fence with her knees, trying to break out. Now she just lets out one whinny, runs a few steps, and settles back down.