Generally, the dance portrays troops riding horses, but another type of Kuda Lumping performance also incorporates trances and magic tricks.

When the "possessed" dancer is performing the dance in trance conditions, he can display unusual abilities, such as eating glass and resistance to the effects of whipping or hot coals.

Although the dance is native to Java, Indonesia, it is also performed by the Javanese communities diaspora in Suriname, Malaysia and Singapore, popularly known as Kuda Kepang.

The first suggests that Kuda Lumping may have arisen out of Diponegoro's war against the Dutch colonial forces, as a ritual reenactment of battles.

[2][4][5] The performers mount rattan horses and dance while traditional instruments such as the angklung, gongs, and dog-dog drums are played.

[2] During their trances, the dancers may pretend to eat grass or drink water, while another performer or shaman uses a whip to direct them.

[1][2] In East Java, the similar dance is called Jathilan, and is a part of Reog Ponorogo performance.

Unlike common jaran kepang however, jathil never performed trance dances and stunts such as eating glass or walk on fiery charcoal.

[7] Henry Spiller suggests that Kuda Lumping represents spiritual power and masculine virility, which is "wild and uncontrolled ... yet ultimately a good thing".