Finn, if you really want to come back: sell one of your looms for 1million gold, join one of the larger clans, rent out any +3 gear you like from the renting system (its called "armory", every clan has one), and use up the 1 million to learn the game again. I am sure in the end there will be plenty of gold left.
I remember before going all black and heavy you rode the cataphrac with a heraldic transitional and a great helmet, that kind of gear is almost affordable these days.
the thing you will notice most is probably the smaller lance angle, which is also why the more agile horses are better for lancers these days.
1h cav is quite strong today to, and the shield helps a lot, so you might want to try that.
there are "skip the fun" characters that are instant level 30 chars on which you can try out different builds.
if you do come back, everyone would welcome you and be happy, but I suspect its almost nicer to not come back and keep the the '10 memories alive ^^