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the instructor described two main techniques - hungarian, asbach, with asbach more for long periods of straight ahead driving, and hungarian for lots of turning, etc… [/QUOTE] Interesting… I’ve never heard of either.
Arguably there’s actually 2 correct rein handling techniques:
Both require the reins to be held in the left hand and with the right hand used as an assister hand.
In the latter style the right hand is used much more and for virtually all steering. The left hand supports the reins.
In coachman, all steering is done with the left hand alone with the exception of taking loops. The prime purpose of the right hand is for waving at folks taking your photo 
The right hand comes in for shortening, loops and as an assister in emergency.
Then there’s the one I’d be happy to argue about and that’s 2 handed rein handling.
Driving with arms out and a rein in either hand as you would riding leads to the following problems:
Leaning on the horse’s mouth or dropping contact altogether - and partly because the horse is some distance distance away and according to the gradient, there is a lot of lengthening and shortening to do.
The right hand holds the whip and its unhorsemanlike to apply the whip with a hand that still has hold of the rein! It means you’re giving the horse all sorts of contradictory signals.
So for those that want a critique, would you like to explain or for those who are very brave show photos of, how you hold the reins - and describe or show how you turn left, turn right and you use your whip?
are techniques for shortening the reins, turning, etc, fairly uniform among pleasure/cdi drivers in the USA?
No. Driving is no different to riding. Some drivers are well trained and competent and use good technique and some use adaptive means to achieve what they want to do.
is there a fairly uniform agreement about when to use Hungarian, when use asbach? or do you find there is a lot of variation to what techniques people follow.
No. Driving is no different to riding. One question, 100 opinions!
IMO and experience, the best drivers learn to drive using correct rein handling first.
Please remember that neither Coachman nor Achenbach precludes the use of the right assister hand and its there when you need it.
Some claim that two handed rein handling is faster. I’ve had a bet on for 20 years that I can beat any purist two handed driver round a cones course driving coachman style and so far I’m quids in!
Truth is though that because its so hard to find a trainer to start someone off with Coachman or Achenbach that the skill and technique often is never actually fully and properly developed. Those relatively newer to driving need to appreciate that when HDT (CDE) was first developed as a sport that the marathon phase was most often always driven coachman or achenbach style. There’s no difference in times now and courses if anything have got easier because of the concern for safety. The dressage phase absolutely had to be and throughout. Now there’s just an element whereby you have to drive a single-handed circle. So for anyone serious about driving competitively they will have to move to advanced tests where they’ve to execute a perfect circle and deviations with reins held in one hand.
All too often nowadays, drivers make their rein adjustment before they commence their move and then clamp two reins in one hand and sort of hope things stay on track and because they actually can’t handle the reins in a single hand. This means that the horse often falls in and turns its head away and the circle is pretty terrible IMO.
Appreciate that the reason the rules were changed was not because 2 handed technique was quicker or better in any way at all. It was purely because the sport wanted to attract more to it. Trust me the best and I mean THE best drivers, all can handle single-handed. Its how they started and drove for years before they competed and its how they train and practice dressage etc at home.
Increasingly over the past 10 years I’ve been re-training drivers (not just UK) who are already competing. Quite simply they’re coming to learn coachman rein handling and because they’re experiencing practical difficulties in every day driving and also poor competition performance scores when going up the levels.
Truth is though that if you don’t learn correct technique in the first place, that its limiting and there’s a heck of a lot you’ll never be able to do.
No different to riding.
All this nonsense about Euro weanie (wtf is a weanie?) wannabe’s needs to be carefully considered if its not a joke. Appreciate that at international competition level that the Europeans are doing disproportionately well in terms of their populace number even discounting that, they’re the ones that are consistently winning. Maybe its just the cry of disdain from wannabe winners?
Again, all no different to riding.
