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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Choranzanus" data-source="post: 4507872" data-attributes="member: 43291">It is possible that horses will not charge if they were poorly trained, but I don't think this was common. In fact, Polish winged hussars (who are really just knights of course) apparently charged even pikemen and were often victorious. It is worth mentioning that their lances are actually longer than pikes thought. Of course, under normal circumstencies knightly armies would charge each other. There are good reasons why medieval warfare was dominated by mounted knights. Imagine a tight line of long lances moving against you with great speed and enough momentum to propel you a few dozen yards, punching through armor and most shields. This is precisely the reason why spear and shield, shield walls etc. became obsolete. They never fell completely out of use in middle ages since horses are not always available or practical, but medieval battle manuals knew better than throwing them against knights.If you look into medieval knightly psyche you will see a lot of emphasis on courage and boldness to the point of overconfidence. You need some if your job is to charge enemy ranks without flinching. If knights cannot charge, they are already defeated.</blockquote>