We have a pruning guide available at the top of the website that has details about how to prune fruit trees. However, there are a few steps you can take to ensure the trees grows and fruits properly over the next few years.
Planting year: Always allow the tree to properly flower and bloom- the is a natural cycle and helps the tree get into a properly rhythm. You want it to begin the fruiting cycle. You tree should NOT fruit this year. If it develops a fruit, remove it with a knife or pruners before its gets larger than a dime. The tree at this stage might be old enough to produce fruit but the root system is too small to support fruit.
Year 2: The tree might fruit but should only have fruit ever 6", if at all. You'll probably get a couple pieces of fruit the second year after its planted. In Winter, prune off any broken or damaged limbs to the nearest bud.
Year 3: This is the beginning of your consistent crop and you'll probably get 3-6 pieces of fruit on the tree this year. If the fruit, especially apples and pears, grows in clusters, remove all but 1 from any cluster. This will help not stress the tree out. By this time, the root system should have caught up to the above ground tree and your tree should be able to support a consistent crop.
Year 4 and 5: By now the tree can be lightly annually pruned. No need to cut off the top of the tree if there is nothing wrong with it. Once the tree grows beyond your reach you might consider pruning it back to make harvest time easier but semi-dwarf and standard trees will get larger than what you could reach.