> You need the right terrain. Forests are not a good place for cavalry. Roads are needed to shift cavalry (and fodder) around. Bigger distances, lower populati

> You need the right terrain. Forests are not a good place for cavalry. Roads are needed to shift cavalry (and fodder) around. Bigger distances, lower population density and WORSE roads = cavalry is MORE useful. That's why Eastern Europe used a lot of cavalry all the way till 1920s (and it still won battles at that point) while west switched to mostly infantry much earlier. Cavalry was always more expansive than infantry, but with larger distances it was well worth it. > Roads are needed to shift cavalry (and fodder) around. Roads are needed for people too. And horses can travel long distances faster (if you adapt to it by taking spare horses etc - which almost everybody did eventually). With population density low enough and roads bad enough - cavalry had huge advantage over infantry (namely - it can be on time where it's needed).