How was Light/Heavy Cavalry used and answering some questions about them.

by BVits-Lover

I sort of think I have the basic idea that light cavalry was great to be swift on their feet. They would fly in with bows, shoot into formations and were great at running down enemies while heavy cavalry broke through their lines with pikes and swords...however, I find it hard to picture these used in my head.

With Heavy Cavalry, it seems like they would run out of lances and then would have to run into dedicated formations, some of which would easily bog down a horse before either killing it or dragging the rider off his mount. Not to mention that the most common weapon in a soldier's arsenal, the spear, gave him enough reach that he could easily just jut the weapon forward and let the mount run itself on the end.

Light Calvary also seems to encounter this same problem and their lack of armor also means that they would be really easy picking for archers, would they not?

There are a few factors that you're overlooking, including a very important one in morale. More can always be said if anyone else would like to address themselves to the matter of combat ahorse; for the meantime, here's a few previous posts for your consideration:

Here's a previous compilation of cavalry-related answers, linked to save on username pings and because u/dandan_noodles also has a comment in thread that addresses some of your concerns;
Also relevant is u/Hergrim's Knightly Post, illustrating Medieval cavalry combat. They've since told me that some of their views have evolved since writing that post, but it still largely works for your purposes;
Since we've tagged them already, Hergrim also has a post on Medieval warhorses;
And to round things out, u/Bronegan's post on horse training is also relevant.