In addition to ulcers I’ll add try the pony on vit E. The spooky winter horse thread lead me to vit E and it’s been a game changer in my gelding in 5 short days.
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Ulcers was my first thought.
Have you looked at what this pony ate where it used to be and what it is eating now? Has anything changed?
Some horses are very sensitive to a different feed and it can cause this type of reaction.
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This pony, including the size, breeding, and even the age when I met her sounds a lot like a pony I rode for years. She was a fun little sportscar to ride for kids and petite adults, but she was highly reactive to her environment and I wasn’t the only one who just got tired of being dumped by her. She was narrow as a minnow and had a wicked spook.
She was the sort of pony who you could get a great ride on, but if it was windy/weird sun on the arena/blowing tablecloth, she would never settle. Like yours, curious and brave when something interested her, but would spin and nope out of something she found the least bit unsettling. Not just for me, but for whoever was riding her. If snow fell in a corner of the arena, she wouldn’t trust it for the whole winter, not just a particular ride. But consistently unpredictable would be a good description.
And yes, kids rode her, including at camps. The blunt truth might just be that sometimes kids don’t mind getting dumped, and some parents don’t mind, especially on a smaller pony. So I wouldn’t place much stock on the fact kids rode her. Maybe the good videos were on one of her good days, when it was warm with no wind.
I did suspect the pony I knew had stomach issues (she wasn’t mine, but a lesson horse, I couldn’t follow up with anything), so I agree on eliminating the possibility of ulcers and reconsidering her current feed. And ditto on the earplugs (which they refused to use at the lesson barn.)
Who are her field mates? How is she in the arena with a very confident horse?
I say move her where she can relax - not in the stall. I adopted a rescue who stall walked and fence walked and being in a stall only added to her stress. Now that she’s home with me I keep her where she has a deeply bedded stall but not locked in except for brief times (farrier and vet visits) or horrible storms overnight. And because I listened to her she is able to now be in a stall and calm about it. I was told her abusive past included being kept in a stall and not let out at all. No wonder. The poor thing.
I love that you are listening and noticing her behaviors. She’s lucky to be with you. I say yes to pain - gotta rule it out. Bodywork. Maybe she’s pinched somewhere. How is she about grooming and letting you feel her body? Is she tight in her muscles?
I’ve been on a long, very rewarding journey with my mustang. He came to me with all sorts of behaviors that told me something was wrong and the list has included a bad tooth and then root canal on another tooth, worm burden, and then PSSM dx. And 3 huge sheath beans.
Have you had a GOOD dentist in her mouth to confirm no hooks, ramps or sharp points? Done a FEC? Get a good bodyworker on her to see what they find.
We found a nasty deep old scar over my guys hip and I’ve been working to release that for months too.
My guy was also very reactive to many things given his having been out in the wild for 6 yrs. I’d have him get just over threshold than back down and keep increasing his bravery.
Horses, just like us, cannot learn when they are panicked or terribly worried. Build trust and relationship by being their advocate. My guy couldn’t be in the wash rack without big worry so we spent the first year out in the grass bathing etc. Now he’s ok in the wash stall.
Have her look forward to your time together and slowly peel this onion into a beautiful flower.
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Shires!
Wish I’d had the wherewithall to bid on the pair 
