Western riding is normally used on long trail rides.
Reining competitions are where horse and rider complete a pattern. As depicted in the picture at the top Reining is famous for it's sliding stops
Western Pleasure is a western riding competition where your horse is judged on how pleasurable it is.
Cutting is a competition where horse and rider work together to pick a cow out of a herd and keep it away as long as possible. Cutting is popular for it's quick turns and spins as depicted above.
Roping is a western riding competition where riders and horses rope cattle. This is not animal cruelty toward the cows because as you can see even the cow wears special head gear to protect it.
Competitive Trail Riding is where horse and rider have to cross miles of trail and try to have the fastest time. This is mostly ridden using western tack, but can also be ridden in English tack as well
Cow Sorting is a western riding competition where two riders and horses sort numbered cow between two pens.
Western gaming can be a number of different activities including pole bending, area race and others. The most popular is barrel racing shown above.