Thanks all! Some really good advice here.
When I look at the big picture over 6 months /1 yr we have a ton of progress that I didn’t ever think about when I first made this post.
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This is the best thread! Love all the responses. I got an unraced barely turned 4yo TB right at the beginning of covid, and the best thing I did with him was be patient and not have a timeline. He’s eventually a sales project, but having ridden other 3 and 4yo TBs I understand why he was unraced with the bloodlines he has - he was just way too immature in the brain. Comparing a TB with race training (even an unraced one) to a young WB to a young QH are all different - but in the end they are all horses. The best trainers of young horses know how to read and listen to the horse, and as somebody said upthread “ride the horse you have today, not the one yesterday.” If 1+1= 6, sorry don’t start expecting your young horse to do calculus even if he did calculus yesterday. Sometimes it’s the littlest wins that are the most rewarding.
There are some great nuggets of wisdom in this thread that apply to green horses of any breed.
Also I had never heard of the Ride IQ app - thanks @alexA.
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Absolutely agree. Every horse is different and so is every day. That’s why I love horses so much: they remind us to live in the present. And young horses… well anybody living with and raising a young human knows it takes time for the brain to form. You can’t expect a being to tell you clearly who they are when they haven’t decided themselves yet! Sure, some characteristics settle earlier than others and you might be able to more or less count on those but training success is influenced by brain development, outside stimulus, musculature, skeletal development, genetics… So many pieces to the puzzle and it’s all fascinating to watch how the chips fall over time. Patience, patience, patience and enjoying the journey. It’s a cliche but it’s true. You keep at the good habits, keep repeating them kindly, and eventually some will stick.
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I’ve always told kids first you learn to ride then you learn to read the horse. Why the number of horses under your belt counts, if you’ve done it right. It’s part of the addiction 
I used to love figuring a new one out, raising a few homebreds too. It brings the learning full circle. With OTTBs I say it takes a year to turn one around (physically and mentally), another year to make it. They need time to build the correct body to carry a rider you can’t rush this. I had one very lean scrawny discombobulated TB that couldn’t hold a canter or circle. He morphed into the ultimate definition of a hunter hack. His flow was mesmerizing. Lunging, large circle, the canter until he built muscle and got it on his own was the key. Took a year. Have patience grasshopper.
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This may sound weird, but have you ever thought of keeping a training diary on paper for a year or even just a few months? Like, in a spiral notebook, not to be shared, not fancy, but just noting the date of every ride, and what went well or didn’t go well in a few words?
I’m the queen of black and white thinking, and sometimes it’s helpful to look back objectively at some data when I’m flailing around, saying “I don’t understand when I’ve been running/eating/riding/writing so little/much why I am not making more progress.”
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This is good advice. I find keeping a log to be tremendously helpful. I do mine through Instagram; all of my posts link to a calendar and I tend to be better triggered by photo memories. I can look at a particular photo and recall that ride much better than I can with just words. I like that the photos pop up in my calendar memories too, great way to see progress.
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I think keeping a journal, photo or written or both is a great way to put the progress in perspective. Changes are incremental and happen ever so slowly! These four photos were taken approximately a year apart ages 3-7 of the same horse. You can see his mental and physical development through these, from just learning how to steer and carry a rider to having a more mature and developed musculature and using himself more correctly. When I feel like progress is slow or I am taking steps backwards it helps to look back through photos and videos taken over periods of time to see the difference.
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I’ve fallen out of the practice, but I did this last year with my first OTTB project and found it tremendously helpful. It was great to see how much I eventually took for granted.
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I do a photographic journal for each of my babies. So when I’m struggling with something I can look back and be comforted by the progress.
These are a year apart.
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Yes! this is a great idea!!
I have done this, very informally, my own scribble. It has been encouraging because I can look back and see, oh, I was working on that now it is a non issue and we are working on *this. ***
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If you keep a journal or log, be sure to note what time you rode, the weather and if you were solo or there were other horses around. Of course you log what you did and how long you rode…
Hazard a guess that 90% of the problems posters ask how to fix can be explained by simply looking at this information.
Examples might reveal he’s better when you ride 4 times a week then 3 times, better in early afternoon, better with other horses around and a complete brat of epic proprtions in windy conditions, after 6 pm or solo.
That wont fix the problem but scheduling rides where you are teaching something new when history says hell be more focused can result in fewer backward steps. Set yourself up for success by making it easy to learn and get better. Avoid schooling when Green horse has proven he’s not going to be receptive.
Once horse has mastered basics and reliably performing them, you will want to vary the routine but until those skills are installed, KISS.
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Good idea. A ride on a 30-degree day at the witching hour is going to be much different on a baby than a 70-degree mid-morning hack. 
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Heck, a ride on my 21 year old mare in those conditions could be an unwanted adventure too. 
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Exactly what 2Bays said.
Invest in a Pivo and video your rides weekly or monthly whichever.
With baby horses, or greenies, what you feel can look totally different to the way it looks.
For instance, my young guy has been under saddle for four months now. This week I feel like he is falling behind my leg, (I always ride my young ones quite forward before I ask them to come back). I videoed my ride, he actually isn’t really behind my leg but he is stretching down and in moments I can see he is really trying to lift himself up through the back while stepping under.
Yes, the forward is sacrificed because he isn’t strong enough, yet he is doing what my training is showing him to do and relaxing.
I should mention, every young horse is different. Any gelding I have had has been pretty linear when I am riding properly and regularly. Mares on the other hand yo-yo.
If you find the progress isnt visible week by week with you riding consistantly, go monthly and check. You will see it. Try not to overanalyze youngsters. They could be growing or just trying to figure it out and trying a way to make things easier when it gets tough.
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I call it ‘bead-polishing’
Keep head down, work on the individual pieces. Every once in a while look up, string it together and go “Hey, it looks so much better” Head back down and go back to working on the pieces.
It makes it such a pleasant surprise to realize how far its come along.
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