Why is he doing this?! 

I thought the same thing.

francesn33 and maureenvenables, yes, I think Ace looks more like a Morgan than a Welsh Cob (I think they have a thicker, heavier conformation). But so interesting to speculate.)

Foundation Morgan

I have 2 Morgans, and he looks like the foundation Morgan. One of mine looks more like a Showtype(she was shown before becoming a brood mare)but her last 4 foals before i bought her were all the foundation type. She was also pregnant but I am a midwife, and had horse equipment. Lol! She had a beautiful filly who is now 14!

I would agree. I rescued a mare that was his age, and once I started riding her, I noticed this behavior. She folded up in the front once too. Mostly, it was the backend. I would highly recommend a 5 panel test with UC Davis. Mine had 3 of the 5, and by the end of her 4 year old year, we had to euthanize her due to increasing ataxia and aggressive behaviorwhich was very out of character for her. I will never own another horse without having a 5 panel on it after this experience. I hope it is not what is going on but sure looks familiar!

Thank you, Amanda. My gelding is 13 years old now and I have him still. He has the same issues as you describe, but not as severely. So I do the Masterson Method, triggerpoint massage and sidepass in hand to keep him as supple and painfree as possible. Sometimes he is aggressive, then depressive. At these times he must be separated from the herd as he is unpredictable in his behaviour due to pain, I think. It is a form of intensive care I am doing learning to read his body language and know exactly what is going on and where in his body he is in pain. He gets many supplements to help his muscles. For some years it looked as if I could ride him some day. But it was never more than 15 minutes at a walk. Then his muscles stiffen up. Hence the steering problem as it begins at the poll going all the way to his hind end. On a trail ride he fell out of the blue due to stiffening up. I couldn´t get out of the saddle and was trapped under him. This was dangerous and scary for us both. When it is bad, he can not bring his hind legs forward and walks like an old man, poor thing. This causes problems at the farrier, too, as he stiffens up standing for a longer period of time needing to give one hoof to be trimmed. Now we are at a stage where I must begin to think about giving him the last act of kindness. In Germany this is difficult as a vet must ensure that the horse has no more quality of life. To give him up for slaughter is no option for me and would be difficult as a horse is not allowed to have got medication for 6 months before slaughter. So we are in a kind of limbo.@richards8595

What a tough spot to be in I wish you all the best. It is such a difficult decision to make in the first place so if you have made that decision your vet should support it in my opinion. I worked closely with my vet for a year leading up to the end trying diet, massage, no work, hand walking, light exercise, nothing seemed to change the outcome unfortunately. I only had her 2 years but I grew to love her so much during that time😞.

patticriss, sorry to hear about your *Two* horses' problems. Hopefully, you will find solutions. Tim's videos are chock full of great advice and information!

Oh Mary, walking up stairs hurt some of us 😅

only if its used wrong

Here in Europe are al the Welsh pony's 😁