I believe that the phrase 10-year old girl training can be attributed to Warwick Schiller, which I interpret to mean to uncomplicate training and be friends with your horse. Braid dandelion flowers in his mane, tell him all your secrets, hug him around the neck, play chase or follow the leader.
To get into the spirit of 10-year old girl training I've been reading young adult equestrian fiction. The themes are interesting but not necessarily complex and fairly light if you can get past bullying or abusive parents or dead parents, which all serve as a launching point. Then the girl goes on to do amazing things with her horse(s) and frequently gets to spend all day with them.
As a 10-year old I didn't have my own horse or pony but I spent as much time as I could at a friend's house who had two Appaloosa mares. All we wanted to do was ride. Neither of us knew how to saddle or really bridle the horses so we improvised and used bailing twine on their halters. Simple enough for 10-year old girls. We spent move of our available time trying to catch two clever mares in a 40-acre field. Sometimes they complied but often we resorted to bribery with a bucket of sweet feed. Thinking back, sweet feed was a high value treat in exchange for occasionally being bothered by two small girls. After all that, sometimes we'd curry the mud off the horses but most often we'd climb the nearest fence or stump and hop on. Our jeans did the currying. Then we'd ride for hours, through the neighbors' fields as long as we took care to close gates, and along a road up to the trails in the forest. It was great fun and probably the most rewarding riding I've done in my whole life because none of it was work. The goals were very simple: get on and go.
It's easy to get stuck on formal training procedures and setting goals that may or may not be realistic. Some years ago I did the hunter/jumpers but honestly I hate showing. It's very expensive and a lot of pressure. Sure, I have saved a few ribbons but mostly I tossed the old ones in some long-ago move. Also, I'm not really fond of riding indoors or in an arena. My sport of choice would be foxhunting but that would mean some formal training, like trailer loading and hauling comfortably, riding in a group. Daily training can feel like drudgery unless you throw in some 10-year old girl training.
Yesterday I did some formal training with both boys. I groomed Beege in the cross ties and did some uphill/downhill and lateral work. I also asked for walk, trot, canter. I can tell that he doesn't really feel confident cantering so I asked for one stride then walk. He seemed okay with that. I brought Odin all the way into the barn, groomed him, then did fly spray training. If he targeted the bottle he got a click and treat. If he let me touch him with the bottle without moving, he got a click and treat. If he let me spray him without moving, he got a click and treat.
I thought about doing the same training today because I'd likely be rewarded with a bit of forward progress but I didn't feel like it. So I wondered what 10-year old me would do with two horses in a pasture. Naturally I'd try to ride them bareback and bridleless. There's a handy stump in the pasture that would serve as a mounting block:
Now how to convince them to come to me. I'm a fan of clicker/positive reinforcement training so I grabbed the treat bag and my helmet (I'm smarter than 10-year old me) and the fly spray because I had a moment of inspiration where I thought I could show Odin via Beege that fly spray is very tolerable.
Neither horse showed any interest in my stump so I walked out with fly spray and asked Beege to target the bottle. Click and treat. Then I sprayed him a couple times (he's an old pro) click and treat. Meanwhile Odin started wandering over because he heard the clicks and saw the treats. I finished with Beege and started with Odin: target the bottle, click and treat. Let me touch his shoulder with the bottle, click and treat. Spray once without moving, click and treat. And so on. The hard part is convincing Beege that his turn is over and I'll get back to him but both boys are polite and will move away (temporarily) when asked. I was super pleased with Odin's response to fly spray with positive reinforcement. Then I had to think of another exercise for Beege. How about side pass? He's pretty good going right to left but the opposite is harder so it's good that he has to work for reinforcement.
After those exercises, my original 10-year old girl plan came to fruition: they followed me to the stump. Beege almost lined up so that I could lean over him but not quite. Next time I'll have a stick handy to tap his rump over to me. Odin approached me straight on but isn't quite as willing as Beege. Well boys, you have your 10-year old girl. Expect dandelion flowers in your manes next time.