The following are excerpts from Sandy Collier's Reining Essentials. Click to learn more or to order the book Reining Essentials.

Chapters

PART ONE: SETTING THE STAGE
CHAPTER 1: PERSPECTIVES  
CHAPTER 2: TERMS & CONCEPTS
CHAPTER 3: THE RIGHT HORSE, THE RIGHT GEAR

Riding Smart
Training horses is not supposed to be mortal combat. We're supposed to be smarter than they are. (If the reverse were true, they would be "riding" us, right?) Ideally, we use our bigger brains to make learning seem do-able and feel non-threatening to our horse.
            Here are the rules of thumb for "riding smart" that I've accumulated over the years.

• You can’t train a horse that’s hurting, so rule out physical pain. Whenever your horse is being stubbornly resistant, make sure it's not because he's in pain. Is he not stopping well? His hocks may be sore. Resisting a spin? His suspensory ligaments (the structures supporting the back of the lower leg) may be sore, or he may have bumped his knees together, making them tender. Tossing his head? His teeth may need floating. Always check with the appropriate expert—a veterinarian, chiropractor, or equine dentist—to rule out a physical problem whenever you hit a roadblock. Only after you get the green light should you push through in your training. I have my horses checked regularly by my vet to head off problems—I don't wait until a horse starts resisting.

• Maximize every moment. Whenever you're with your horse, you're either training or untraining him. If you're picking out his feet and he's dancing around or leaning on you, don't let him get away with it—that's setting an "I'm the boss" precedent in his mind. Instead, take the time to set his priorities straight by insisting that he stand obediently when you need him to. If you're riding him through a gate and he won't move laterally off your leg, school him until he does. If you're going down the trail on a pleasant morning and he's pulling on the bit, don't think, "Oh, it doesn't matter now." It does! All these random moments add up to a lot of good training; don't waste them. 

PART TWO: THE FOUNDATION
CHAPTER 4: RIDER BASICS
CHAPTER 5: THE SEVEN ESSENTIALS
CHAPTER 6: COLLECTION, STEERING

Troubleshooting. Common problems in getting your horse to give his face, and how to fix them:
                        • Overbridling (chin to chest). Fix by using more leg and less rein, being sure to release when your horse softens. Also, if need be use distinct tugs to make it uncomfortable when he puts his head beyond the vertical or too low, returning to soft hands as soon as he corrects his positioning.
                        • Underbridling (not flexing enough; neck may be raised and braced against your hands). Fix by bumping incrementally harder with your legs in neutral position or just behind it while holding with your hands as assertively as need be until there is the slightest indication of giving, then release immediately, then repeat.
                        • Never fully softening the jaw (you’ll feel him still pulling on you even though he’s dropped his head). Fix by tugging the reins off the beat of his motion. Be sure not to tug predictably, or he may simply learn to move his head from side to side without truly giving/softening. Also, make sure the slack is out of the reins before you tug, so you’re not jerking.

PART THREE: THE MANEUVERS
CHAPTER 7: LEAD DEPARTURES, CIRCLES, SPINS
CHAPTER 8: STOP, BACK, ROLLBACK
CHAPTER 9: LEAD CHANGES

Changing Leads
            Because changes are challenging, set yourself up for success before you attempt them by making sure your horse is broke in the face (softens and stays soft to rein pressure), moves well laterally both ways off your leg, and can counter canter well. If you do, changing leads will be not such “a big deal” to your horse. This is critically important, because it’s much easier to keep lead changes low-key if they never become an anxiety-producing, frustrating experience in your horse’s mind.
            There are various ways to teach a horse to change his lead; I’m going to show you a simple method of tricking him into changing to make it relatively easy for him. This enables him to learn the basics of what you want in a low-key way. Then I’ll give you two exercises (the daisy and the two-track) that will help you refine the “trick” into a reliable cue-and-response, with little or no anxiety or anticipation on your horse’s part.
            Think of changing leads as going from a departure on one lead to a departure on the other lead—while loping. Begin by loping a counter canter circle in your arena, keeping your horse’s nose and rear end tipped to the inside of the circle. As you approach a corner, carry both hands to the outside to move his shoulders out towards the wall. (As you do, keep enough pressure on the inside rein to keep his nose tipped to the inside.) At the same time, take your inside leg off for a stride and gradually start to apply pressure with your outside leg, a little behind neutral position, and “kiss” just as you go into the corner. If he doesn’t change at that point, bump more aggressively with your outside leg and kiss again.

PART FOUR: COMPETITION
CHAPTER 10: GETTING READY TO SHOW
CHAPTER 11: AT THE SHOW

Scoring the Maneuvers

The judge will also consider the “degree of difficulty” for each maneuver, and this is typically related to speed and quickness. For example, a perfectly executed fast spin will score higher than an equally perfectly executed slow one.           
            For each maneuver, the point scoring is as follows:
            -1 ½ for an extremely poor execution.
            -1 for very poor.
            - ½ for poor.
            0 for correct.
            +1/2 for good execution.
            +1 for very good.
            + 1 ½ for excellent.