coral beauty cotoneaster

what work could i do to one of these plants now to start training it for bonsai???? it is nursery stock and i have not looked at the root ball yet.. it needs pruning really bad.. thank you take care john

If you are as hot as we are (96 here today), all I'd do is water them. When things get more "normal" ^* you can prune and wire.

^*I suspect, however, that the intense heat we've had this year and last IS the new normal for most of us.

Thank you Jim,,,that is pretty much what i thought .. water i can do !! here today it is 98 but it has been 100 not the heat index the degrees !! thank you take care john

As always, a picture would help. It is probably a multi-stemmed shrub. You probably need to reduce it to the few thickest trunks.
Iris