Some advice I wish I had when I was starting my horse (so many years ago)

When learning any new concept, many people are told the "simple" version and have to come to terms with changing their knowledge later on when they are getting into more advanced stuff. Riding and training are no different.

However, every thing you do should be working towards a future. Walk trot canter are great, but each of those gaits have different speeds and nuances that a more advanced horse is expected to adhere to, so when you are starting your horse you should begin to expect those nuances.

Collection is a fantastic example. You want the horse to work off their hind-end, which you ask for by applying pressure with your lower leg. From your very first ride, when you ask the horse to walk on from a halt, they should pick up their back leg first and push forward into the gait, rather than unlocking a front leg and falling forward onto it to start their momentum. This is not something that is difficult for a young horse to do and won't stress any growing joints, but you are setting yourself up for success later in life because you have established that you are addressing the hind end when you put your leg on, so they should move out from there.

Also, the more you can do with little to no rein pressure the better. Reins are for refinement and you should be able to slow down, stop, and back without really changing the pressure on the reins. Again, you can start teaching this early. Use your body first, then slowly increase pressure on the reins until you get a result - any result. You, as a rider, need to be hyper-sensitive to the point when your horse gives you can immediately release all pressure. Becoming aware of when your horse "gives" is is also super important. If you are teaching her to back up, for example, her first "give" might just be to shift her weight backwards. That is the moment you need to release all rein pressure (but keep asking with your body), then either reward if she keeps going or start taking up pressure on the reins again and repeat as necessary. One step is perfect for the first session, and don't harp on it too long. Find your moments of success and end there :)

On the subject of "giving" and consistency, be aware that your horse may try out a whole variety of moves if they don't understand something (mine decided that I must mean "canter pirouette" instead of "step with your hind leg" when we worked on the stuff I talked about above, but I didn't introduce it early enough). You need to know when to react and when to stay consistent in your pressure. Never release unless the horse does what you want, but don't overreact just because they decided to give something a shot.

One more thing that depends a lot on the particular horse, but young horses are going to be rushy and unbalanced. Don't kill her interest in going forward just because she's unbalanced - pick up a circle or simply take a deep breath if she feels too off-balance and see if that works, then ask for a lower gait, do some patterns, and pick up the faster gait again. It is much easier to capture the energy of a fast, forward horse than to create energy in a horse who was not encouraged to move out early in their training.

Finally (gosh this is getting long) be very very very aware of your riding abilities. If you are confusing with your aids the horse will get frustrated, but even more so if you are crooked or weak in a particular area, your horse will learn to be crooked and weak too. Eliminate faults with your riding before tackling a training hiccup, because sometimes it's as simple as having a little too much contact on the rein or you're collapsing your ribcage to one side or another, especially if your horse is still fairly small compared to your body wight.

Horses are always learning so be confident and intentional with everything you do, but most importantly have fun! Make training a game that you play with your horse as a team. Don't forget to be crazy excited about those little wins, she will definitely pick up on it.

Good luck!