Although there are numerous types of riding styles and mounted activities, the four main types of riding are as follows:  Hunter/Jumpers, Western, Saddleseat and Dressage. 

In jumping, the horse is judged solely on his ability to clear the fence rather than the style of his performance.  The knockdown of a rail, a horse with a refusal or other disobedience is assessed faults.  Multiple refusals, the fall of horse or rider, or jumping a fence out of sequence (going off course) results in elimination.  All horses "going clean" or having a clear round with no faults are eligible for the "jump-off."  The jump-off is a modified course ridden against the clock, and the fences may or may not be raised.  The fastest clean round wins.

The western horse may be of any breed or combination of breeds as long as he satisfies the rider's needs.  Quarter horses are most often seen in the western arena along with Appaloosas and Paints.  The western horse is judged at the walk, jog, and lope. The jog and lope are slow, smooth, comfortable versions of the trot and canter.  Considerations in the judging of a western horse are quietness, smoothness, and consistency.  A good western pleasure horse has a stride of reasonable length in keeping with his conformation.  He has enough cushion to his pastern to give the rider a pleasant, smooth ride. The western horse carries his head in a natural position, not high and overflexed at the poll, or low with his nose out.  He should be relaxed, but alert and ready to respond to the rider's commands without excessive cueing.

Horses ridden saddle seat may be one of several different breeds, primarily American Saddlebreds, but also Morgans, Arabians, and National Show Horses.  The American Saddlebred, generally regarded as the aristocrat of the show ring, is shown in three-gaited, five-gaited, fine harness, and pleasure divisions.  Five-gaited horses are shown at the walk, trot, slow gait, rack, and canter.  Both the slow gait and rack are natural to the Saddlebred breed and developed through training.  Three-gaited, or walk­trot, horses are shown at the walk, trot, and canter.  A saddleseat horses head carriage is higher than that of other disciplines and their trot is typically much more animated often trotting with their knees level or above level.

"Dressage" is a French word meaning "training."  The object of dressage is to produce a horse, which is supple, relaxed, obedient, and works in perfect harmony with his rider.  A dressage horse may be of any breed that trots, but Warmbloods are often chosen for their athletic ability.  A dressage horse must be willing to move freely forward, thereby attaining the suppleness and physical development necessary to advance to higher levels of training.  dressage competition requires each horse to perform an individual test (pattern) that may last from four to eight minutes.  Each horse is scored numerically based on how well it performs each movement of the test.  The scores are tallied and the horse with the highest percentage at the end of the show is named the winner.

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