No one seems to mention the other side to random horses:
On any toon I have a riding skill point, whenver Im faced my an opponent and theres an unridden horse anywhere around, I whistle and line myself and the horse up with the opponent in between, few secs later, I stroll over and kill the enemy, who is lying on the ground after being run over.
Players who dont use this skill or dont rate it have never seen it in action: Of all ninja tricks, this is surely one of the most potent.
So, with that in mind, any horse not being ridden must be viewed as a potential: Potential weapon for BOTH sides:
Killing a horse as the attackers, one thats just chilling like bob dylan outside the castle, is silly, its just frustrated infantry venting some rage:
In BATTLE mode: any horse near me that I havent heard a friend whistle for, and is not being actively chased by a friendly cav so he can mount it, WILL catch an arrow, since I cannot take the risk of a sneaky bugger using it to knock me over: Likewise, joxer is not wrong: Its always nice to find an empty horse once youve been dismounted, but watching your enemy manage to gain a saddle and ride off to the safety of his lines, after spending effort and thought in dismounting them in the first place.....can really be frustrating.