Working with filly

Question
I have a filly that will be 1 in March. She is halter broke and walks pretty well on a lead rope. She is quite spooky at a lot of things. What is the best route in working through her spookiness and what should my game plan be for training her the next year or two to get her to be a good trail horse for me and my kids? I've only owned trained older horses in the past so this little baby is new for me.Thank You.

Answer
Adrienne,
 The best way to quiet a horse is to expose them to as many things as possible.  I strongly recommend Pat Parelli's Natural Horsemanship courses.  I have used his techniques and theories on all my babies, and every one by age 4 months or so walks through water, over logs (very small ones) walk across bright colored tarps or very shiny things, they don't spook ad plastic bags, or banners flying off fences at the shows.  I show my foals, weanlings, yearlings, and 2 year olds in the walk through trail classes, and halter classes just to get them exposure, and most times they are better behaved than the seasoned horses.  The Natural Horsemanship way is the best way to go, and is very easy to follow along with at home.  As far as breaking her and riding her, wait until she is at least 4 years old before you do any of that!!  Horses skeletal systems don't complete development until they are 8 years old, and if you want a good sound, healthy horse for a very long time don't put anything on her back until she is 4 and don't do any serious riding with her until she is at least 6.  Their bodies just can't handle anything earlier than that without serious complications later on.  If you look at Thoroughbreds off the track who are broke and racing at 2, and AQHA horses that are competing at National levels in the futurities at age 3, they are permanently lame by age 11 or 12, and most get burnt out very quickly and develop serious behavior issues.  Also consider the breed of your filly, is she hot bred, meaning if her parents were both hyper, hot, anxious horses, or a naturally hot breed such as Thoroughbreds, Arabians, or American saddlebreds, then that may play a part in her spookiness.  

I hope this helps, please let me know if I can help with anything else.

Samantha Brunner