i am looking for tips in improving my reinsmanship. It is the class I’m weakest at. Does any one know what the judges actually look for?
OK here is one tip
Many reinsmanship classes will involve a solo test presented by the judge.
PAY ATTENTION to what is asked and do it exactly.
For example - leave the line up and take the rail. Slow trot to point X then pick up a working trot to Y, halt, back 3 steps, walk on to Z and pick up a working trot to return to the line
Reinsmanship is judged 75% on the ability of the WHIP
make sure your posture is good and your position and seat are correct
you want your elbows close to your body and your reins with good contact to the horse - no flapping reins, no grabbing and reaching for the reins to make gait changes or turns
You want to look smooth and in control
and ALWAYS remember to have a natural smile - not forced or fake - better no smile than a fake smile
Its been a bunch of years, but when I was doing reinsmanship classes, the solo test often involved driving w/ one hand, whip hand held away from the driving hand. We got much better at it after my mare was properly trained to work on the bit, lol!
I do pretty well on the test portion. I think my biggest issue is posture. My back always hurts and I tend to hunch over.
Agree with both Drive NJ and China Doll. I once won a Super Reinsmanship class, not because it’s “my” class, I show draft shows on the rail 
but because I was the only one in the class who completely nailed the pattern. I didn’t drive brilliantly, but I drove accurately and didn’t miss any marks.
China Doll I hear you, I soooo hear you. I broke my back rather badly a few years ago and consequently, am actually much more comfortable on a horse than behind one, the proper posture for driving kills my back. At a pleasure show last fall I made the mistake of doing 3 classes in one day. We had to reverse at the walk in each class, is this a light horse thing I wonder? Anyway, it was in a full size driven dressage court and took for-ever. I had to bag it and scratch the second class the next day, took my back about 3 months to forgive me for all that poised walking LOL!
