The various performance bonuses that you earn during a battle have more use than just helping you win. You’ll also earn bonus coins. You earn bonuses from getting a perfect start, from achieving high speed by getting enough “perfects”, and from nailing a perfect hit with your lance. These bonuses add up especially when you are grinding for coins.
The one where you get a perfect hit with a lance is tough. This is the hardest thing to do out of everything. Get a perfect shot and you’ll MASSIVELY increase your attack for that round, as well as earn yet another coin bonus and almost guarantee a win.
Once you run out of royal seals, you can use Social Seals (the blue seals) to play against other places. You can do this by participating in various events. You will get matched up against different opponents. The higher the star rating, the tougher they will be to beat. As you earn more trumpets, your opponents will become tougher and tougher to beat.
Participate in as many events as possible for the best chance at winning the best prizes. These are the best way in the game to earn Gemstones. If you have to, skip one event and go all-in on another event to ensure that you win the best prizes. However, if you are doing well enough, enter the other event and participate too, for a chance at maximum prizes. You’ll earn the prizes when the event ends.
Sponsored events are unique events that will have you use unique equipment that you get for that battle, and only for that battle. If you win a sponsored battle, though, one of those pieces of equipment (random one) will be become available for you to buy.
Different horses handle differently, meaning that you have to tap more precisely for some than for others. Once you get a new horse, go back to the training grounds and play a couple times (at least) using the new horse. Use this to get the timing down for the new horse so that when you start playing in the tournament levels again, you can perform at the maximum level.