How to have better and smoother speed transitions

Learning to stop all over again

Excited behaviour around loose horses / donkeys / mules.

Older depressed horse and is it time to let him 'go?'

Rushing to Buy 'Horsemanship'... Everybody's Doin' It

Equine Facilitated Learning & Feeling Helpless

Too much or too little?

Catching another scared horse, equine rehab...

How to have better and smoother speed transitions
I have recently bought a 6 year old Thoroughbred gelding, We get on brilliantly. But every now and then when riding and going on into a canter from a trot, he sometimes gets "jumpy" and doesn't ride smoothly. Someone told me he does that because he is trying too hard to please me, could this be true?....

Learning to stop all over again.
...I have a 20 year old quarter horse mare that has a horrible, horrible head throwing issue.  She is a recent addition to my herd as I acquired her before Christmas of this year.  She was very, very thin and in poor condition when I made her previous owner sell her to me...The head tossing/head throwing issue progressively got worse and worse until it all boiled to a head last weekend.  She side stepped and chewed her bit and tossed her head every single time I even slightly moved the reins.

Excited behaviour around loose horses/donkeys/mules.
...He generally well adjusted and confident hack who is nice natured and good to deal with but he has gradually started over reacting to loose horses/donkeys/mules that we come across whilst out riding and he especially reacts on the way back home... he can be absolutely fine for a spell and then one encounter can set this behaviour off again - especially if we are lucky enough to meet a hobbled mare with huge bell round her neck accompanied by a donkey! He is absolutely fine with cattle and pigs...

Older depressed horse and is it time to let him 'go?'
... He's 26 this year.  He has a hard time maintaining weight and acts really depressed.  He eats but doesn't seem to enjoy life much.  ...I see him moping around and see his lack of enjoyment in life.  He  doesn't interact with the herd much. Should I be thinking about putting him down?  ...I'm having a hard time watching him just scrape by from day to day not enjoying life....

Rushing to Buy 'Horsemanship' ...Everybody's Doin' It
..HELP! My next-door neighbor's barn and paddock are inadequate, and something has to be done about it. She doesn't know what she is doing and I want to help her but I don't want to work for her. Her head is caught up in equine supply catalogs and trendy trainer videos....

Equine Facilitated Learning & Feeling Helpless
...Recently; in speaking with a co-worker of mine, I learned of his 8 year old daughter (Lauren) who is afflicted with 3 inter-related diseases "Arthrogryposis" , "Rhett's Syndrome", and "Autism".... In an effort to bring a little happiness to this very deserving family, I invited them out to spend a day at the stable where I keep my horse... I have a 3y/o green broke, Black & White Tobiano Filly that I named Katana. As I took her out of her stall, she immediately spotted Lauren, walked right  to her and  began "Nuzzling" this little girl like I have never seen before. Even more shocking was Laurens reaction to my horse...  

Too much or too little?
...this horse seems so bitter and when you go get him, you can see his disdain for the whole process.  He is also very dull to your leg (it may be because I am just getting my legs back, but I don't remember ever using that much pressure to make a horse go.  I am told to keep my leg on him the whole time, shouldn't there be a release of pressure?  ...

Catching another scared horse, equine rehab...
I have a question about catching my "scared horse".  At a loss, I, too, searched the internet for answers and saw a VERY similar questions posed by Keelyn in Salem, OR.  She has a an adopted Mustang that appears to have been abused, and I recently bought a 4-yr. old Tennessee Walker (that came from an auction). She's had hers just over a year, and I have said I will "give him a year", then I'm done trying. Similar "problems" catching....snorts at every move you make around him; initially would turn his rear to you in the stall, but now after 5 months of "making him let me pet him" in the stall before I let him leave...he'll stand tense and scared to death, then he bolts...