In Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films, cavalry seem to plough through infantry like they're bowling pins. What would a late medieval cavalry charge actually look like to eyewitnesses?

by st_sebastian
Shadowbreakr

This post might have some of what you're looking for.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4a5t8y/could_you_please_explain_a_cavalry_charge_did/

However in LOTR rohan's cavalry is surprisingly lightly armored usually using just chainmail and leathers. Against the heavily armored Uruk-hai in their full plate long pikes and steady formations rohan shouldn't have had much success. Against the smaller more lightly equipped orcs of mordor ,who were already wavering before the charge hit, rohan's cavalry would have been much more bowling ball like.