Russian when?
Generally, Russian cavalry was rated as good by European powers. The cossacks were a special case, trained in light cavalry tactics that owed more to Central Asian practice than Western tradition, but even the post-Petrine regular cavalry troops generally were considered well-trained and well-mounted. They share the cavalry tradition of the European plains, Poland and Hungary, where horses are not as precious and riding is a common skill. Up to the seventeenth century, they routinely used composite bows from horseback. After Peter the Great, their forces switched to European-style line cavalry, but the advantages - large stock of horses, many recruits accustomed to riding - remained in place. Of course there were weaknesses - the command structure of early modern Russian forces was said to be poor, and the training and remount management of Czarist armies supposedly slipshod. A lot depends on the time and place. Yermak's conquering horde is a different proposition from the chevalier guards in 1812 or a dragoon regiment in 1895.
