His future.

I have a little guy, he's a 8-9 month old quarter cross. I imagine he wont get about 15.2hh but Im always hopeful. I want to try alot of things with him, but I really perfer combined training. (XC scares the poop outta me.) he's halter broken, accepts pressure on his body, lets me brush his body/mane/tail and pick feet. He leads fairly well (fora baby) and he's not that spooky (but could always use more work.) I wont start him till 3, maybe later depending on if I move/ how long it takes me to find a trainer ect. I've ridden lots of fresh greenies, but never started a horse myself. I contacted a few trainers already, they told me to just play with him till he's 3, and call them then.

My question is: What can I do with him now, to get him excited about jumping? Is it too early to get him used to ground poles (varying distances and the like)? Im hoping to show him next summer in hand, maybe trail obstacles if he'll do it.

There isn't really a way to get a horse "excited" about jumping. It will just come on it's own when you do jump him in the far future.

Although, while you lead him with a halter, show him a few poles and jumps of different shapes and colours to get him used to them if you are planning on jumping him.

Otherwise, that's all I can think of that you can do with him at this point.

^ What she said. Some horses like jumping, others don't, but if you show him jumps and let them be a part of his everyday scenery, it will up his confidence level as far as jumps are concerned.

Find somewhere to turn him out with a few other horses and let him be a ahorse for a while. Also it will improve his coordination and endurance.

I Have a baby too and this will be the 2nd baby I will have trained and broken. He is only 15 months. My motto is "Never to early to start". What I do at this age is just lunge him, saying word commands! Like if he is walking tell him to walk. If he wont go any faster I throw a rope out behind him to get him in a trot then I start to making the clicking noise and tell him to trot. Them if he starts to walk again I tell him to walk. After a few days of this he'll start to see the what I say is what he's doing and then this is the time where you make him tort by clicking and saying to command "trot". Soon youll have a baby that knows his word commands. This works for a canter command and a stop command. I make a kissy noise for canter and the Mighty "Whoa" for stop. When they reach two I start to tack them up and then I get on there backs at two and a half. Then after that is the real work!!!!! I hoped I helped you in some way.

I was told not to lunge him untill he's around 2 or so. I don't wanna do to many tight circles while he's growing. I though about setting up a round pen just to get him used to cues to turn and stop though.

He's out with two mares two llamas, a goat and 10+ sheep (24/7). He's on the bottom of the pecking order, so he's learning to socialize very quickly. I probably work with him twice a month right now, besdies the normal grooming routine. Im not talking about starting to get him into a training routine. Im just talking about fun stuff to do. I just don't want to wake up one day and have a 15hh 1000lb "baby" on my hands lol.

Would putting some ground poles in his pasture be a bad idea?

I personally think working him in-hand over ground poles would be fine. There's no harm in teaching him to pick up his feet when he walks. Lunging him now does seem a bit extreme though. Maybe just teach him all of the stuff that will be useful? Ground tying, getting him to bend, maybe you could do clicker/trick training? I don't know how certain tricks might affect him since he's still growing though.

Yes, it would be. They need to be used under supervision. If you left them in a paddock, that's just an injury waiting to happen.
Try leading him over some poles next time you lead him. And try and lead him over a tarp with just a little bit of water in it.
Just basically introduce him to lots of things, but make sure he is disciplined when he is naughty because now is the time you need to start. You are essentially shaping the horse into what it will become when its older.

Yes. Discipline is a HUGE must for young horses. This one "colt" at the stables where I board has serious attitude problems. When he was just a foal his owners allowed him to "gum" their fingers and put his legs over your shoulders. He was very small, and it was cute at the time. But as he grew older, they didn't discipline him enough, and now he is a 3 year old that bites and tries to "jump" up onto you.

They can become very dangerous if things like that are left. So, always remember to teach your horse good manners RIGHT from the beginning, but without taking away his natural growing and experiencing time.

You can do alot with babies; leading them over stuff, teaching him to stand ground tied, teaching him to handle having stuff rubbed on him, taking him for walks along the road to get him used traffic, getting him used to baths, clippers, trailers, etc...the possibilities are endless really. The more you can get him used to now, the easier saddle training, and stuff will be, because you're not having to get him used to 'everything' when he is a 1000 lb 'baby'...