Black Frost wrote:
Let me preface this by saying: THIS IS NOT A CRITICISM!!!! But, why does she stick her arm out straight forward like that? I haven't seen a lot of reining horses, but I don't recall noticing the riders riding in that manner...is this a technique? Poor riding?

They do this to show that it takes little effort and cueing to get the horse to respond to the light cues. This girl rides a little to far forward, so it looks worse than most. Most good reiners have their hand on the horses neck and it never moves.

Reining is a lot like dressage athletically, and for the cues, its just done with a completely loose rein.