Recommended things to do for raising skills in the early game:
Train a bunch of skills in the prologue where you don't have to worry about the passage of time and there are free heals from your mom. Herbalism especially, via picking flowers (not a joke).
Practice lockpicking on the chest behind your miller relative's house.
Train your weapon skills with Captain Bernard. Wear cheap armor that doesn't cost much to repair.
Do the weekly tourneys for more weapon training without having to worry about death.
Learn archery at the range under the bridge to the castle in Rattay, practice it more at the floating log game along one of the rivers. There is also a simple mod to add a center dot to the screen when aiming. You can also practice archery by hunting animals in the woods, but this will usually entail at least a little risk due to it being poaching unless you have express authorization to do so.
You can lern 2 reed at a town in the north, which I highly recommend.
Following the main quest will get you a welfare horse, which is the worst horse in the game but a vast improvement over not having one.