cavalry charges against pikes units

[Wauthan]

Well I'm sure a cavalry charge would be called off if they see a forest of pikes before them. I'm no expert in medieval warfare but surely pikes were used more like a barrier rather then as a meleeweapon? Can't imagine myself hitting a mounted soldier with a what's essentially a very pointy flagpole.

I thought the damage from polearms was already taking "chargeskewering" into consideration? If they don't then pikes should be worthless against most enemies. A weapon that long is impossible to fight with in melee. It only works if there's a lot of soldiers protecting eachother so the enemy can not slip past the points.