I've played all classes fairly extensively for some time and I think it's fair to say ranged is pretty damn overpowered, especially versus heavily armored things. A tincan is a joy to see if you have a +3 longbow and +3 bodkins, they can't move fast enough to dodge you and your damage is barely hindered. The same applies to a lesser degree with horses; despite having heaps of health and more armor than I would've though a person could wear, ranged weapons still kill them way too quickly.
Also, I think it's pretty ridiculous how horses have ZERO armor on their legs. It should be a percentage of their armor (maybe 25% or so) and the models should reflect this; a plated charger could have chainmail on their legs for instance.
Finally I don't think price is a very good deterrent, at all. It just means that only people who have retired enough to have amassed a sizable fortune will be able to play them. This also means that the majority of horses are heirloomed.
Light Cav should be buffed somehow; I think all horses should also have a higher resistance to ranged weaponry, scaling with the horses speed/maneuver. I also think that depending on the speed/maneuver of the horse, it should be able to execute a dodge, aimed by the camera, which is faster and longer but not as high as the regular jump and has a say, 45 degree arc from the horse's facing point. Also, horses should have their difficulty related to their weight (health/armor) so it's not harder to ride an Eastern Horse than it is to ride a Plated Charger, I would've thought this would be pretty obvious seeing that it would befit both balance and realism discussions. This would reduce the melee plausibility of dedicated heavy cavalry and increase that of light cavalry, which I again, would have though made sense.
This could relate to a suggestion I made a while back of dodges; I think people should be able to execute a roll; similar to say, Gears of War. (forwards, backwards, sideways) It should however, reduce movement or even attack speed/damage for a time so that it's not advisable to spam it in combat situations other than to stop yourself being squashed, shot etc.
The dodge should depend heavily on the players athletics/agility and their equipment weight, also their unsheathed weapons. People with giant swords (flamberge) or giant spears (pike, longspear etc.) should not be able to dodge whatsoever. However, people with light armor and a 1h sword should be able to execute a quick, and lengthy dodge which can save them from the impending doom of a plated charger squashing you.
This would substantially reduce the Q_Q from all classes; more people would be able to use cav if they wish, without fear of disgusting upkeep, naughty arrows and long pokey things and being 1 shotted by a lucky legchop.
Infantry would have their Q_Q reduced in that they can now actually dodges horses instead of just waiting for the squish.
Archers would also be able to dodge various things; ranging from enemy arrows to a gigantaur horsey, to even a naughty axe.
tl;dr- Give horses leg armor, reduce upkeep and buff resistance to ranged weapons. Also give them a 45 degree leap. However increase difficulty for heavier horses and significantly reduce it for some light ones.
Give infantry the ability to dodge.
