Liberty work appears in competitive and performance contexts across a wide range of disciplines, from formal FEI competition to freestyle equestrian theater and online social media performance. In formal competition, liberty classes appear in some western breed show formats and in various liberty-specific competitions organized by natural horsemanship and freestyle horsemanship communities around the world.
In equestrian theater and live performance — the Cavalia tradition, touring equestrian shows, and performing arts companies — liberty performance is often the most visually spectacular element of the show, featuring multiple horses moving in coordinated patterns in response to trainers working from the ground. The training underlying these performances is typically years of daily work that never appears in the finished show.
Social media has created a new performance context for liberty work, with practitioners sharing short videos of impressive liberty training moments to audiences of millions. This has increased public awareness of what is possible in the horse-human relationship, but has also created unrealistic expectations among newer practitioners who see only the highlight moments rather than the years of foundational work they represent.