What do the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse represent?

Answer 1

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a biblical image from the Book of Revelation and represents Pestilence, War, Famine and Death.

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God sends them to bring havoc and suffering into the world, before he saves it

Answer 2

The breaking of the first four seals brings forth four differently colored horsemen representing God's judgment through the upheavals of war and its devastating social consequences (violence, famine, pestilence, and death).

Another Answer:

Some others have taken Matthew 24 to be a key to the first six(6) Seals as noted:

Matthew 24:3-5New King James Version (NKJV) The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.

The 1st Horseman's - White - is the first thing Jesus mentions: False Teachers

The 2nd Horseman's - Red - is appropriately War while the 3rd - Black is Famine and the 4th or Pale Horse represents pestilence that commonly follows famine and eventually leads to massive deads:

Matthew 24:6-8

New King James Version (NKJV)

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.