I don’t understand why Horses wouldn’t be afraid to charge into a wall of humans with weapons. And if they would do it, wouldn’t the first row tumble and all the other incoming horses would trip over them resulting in a domino effect?
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Horses are big and heavy. Imagine you are a child and an adult is running at you at full speed and they are holding a broom as a lance. It would be frightening.
So cavalry charges often worked because poorly trained troops would break and run when they saw a bunch of horses coming at them. Once the enemy are routed running them down on horseback was easy and keeps the retreat going.
But you do need to remember that cavalry was not used the same way throughout history. For the Ancient Greeks and Romans cavalry were a quick strike force that could charge to a weak point and attack it. Since they did not have stirrups the cavalry would often dismount to fight.
The counter to that type of cavalry was other cavalry and those units would often skirmish with each other. If one side had cavalry dominance it was a big advantage.
Once stirrups were invented then warriors could fight from horseback. Then the classic charge with spears/lances became a thing. A man charging you with a spear mounted on the back of a horse that is trained to trample and kick would be a terrifying thing especially to green troops.
Of course regardless of the time period they did not always work. Enemy cavalry could countercharge. Trained troops with pikes could present a formidable defense. Sometimes the ground was too soft or muddy. We tend to remember the successes because a cavalry charge looks cool.
So why do they work? Because a horse charging at you is actually quite a scary thing if you are not used to it or don’t have the right tools to defend against it.
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