Whew, I was waiting for FH to step in. I need not add anything further.

Omigosh, yay, I am so excited your vet is going to try the new eye treatment! I actually found something useful! As for poor Jack, well, I am glad Al is feeling confident but it is quite rude to pick on one's roommates that way!

If the horse is a rescue, is he underweight? Often when they are underweight, they will be very quiet and will pretty much accept almost anything. He may not know anything -- there is a difference between him tolerating you sitting on him and following other horses and him actually being a trained horse. I strongly recommend you work with someone who is experienced with green horses, it will keep both you and the horse safe. :-)

Softness and suppleness will come with training. She's probably not born with it the way, say, a Dutch Warmblood might be, but she can certainly learn it. Yes, a short neck CAN make it harder for the horse to be supple and round, but it is a matter of conditioning and training and it just take a little longer when you have conformation working against you. I read an article recently where a trainer said it takes about a year to put a correct topline (muscling) on a horse and I have found that

Sorry I haven't been on here much lately, but THANK YOU rc, and GOOD LUCK IN SCOTTSDALE!!! Don't forget to post a schedule for us.

I have no idea what shape my head is (head-shaped?) but if you go over to the COTH forums and do a search, they have endless and mind-numbingly long discussions about what brands of helmets fit what shape of head, so you can find every aspect of the answer you are looking for, I am sure of it! Especially in the Hunter/Jumper folder.

Awwww, that is so great to hear!!

You look very tight in your hips. What you ideally want to do is approach the jump in your two-point with soft hips, legs wrapped around your horse, shoulders back.....and do nothing. Just soften your hand and allow the horse to jump. Don't move forward. Don't try to get in any kind of position. Just keep your leg on and press your hands into your pony's neck so you don't catch his mouth. His shoulders jumping up closes your hip angle when it is soft and relaxed. It almost feels like

Trail riding would be my first suggestion. If you don't have access to that, I don't think transitions are a bad thing at all, nor are trot poles. You are strengthening the muscles in his hindquarters, which can then better support the joints. I have arthritis in my own back and my teenaged horse has some hock arthritis -- the best thing you can do keep range of motion is to USE it. If you don't, it goes away. You could also make obstacles in your arena like a little Western trail class

I have had a mildly similar experience -- when my young horse (he's 6 too) was pastured with a semi-aggressive horse, it made him wary of all other horses, because he is very submissive. He thinks that all horses with pinned ears want to attack him. At our last jumper show, a horse in warmup just cantered around with pinned ears, it was just how he went. My poor horse kept leaping sideways, thinking he was going to get chomped. He avoided that horse all day. For us, it was a horse confidence