the english enjoyed a marked superiority over the scots in cavalry, particularly with the resurgence of heavy cavalry with their use of demi-lancers. the feudal heavy cavalry had begun to disappear from scottish armies after bannockburn in 1314. it was limited by the shortage of suitable horses. james v imported great horses and mares from denmark in an attempt to improve the quality of scottish breading stock. in the mid-sixteenth century the scots still lacked sufficient heavy cavalry. in their place they fielded relatively large numbers of light horse, often drawn from the borders and usually wearing jacks of leather or mail, mounted on small horses and using light lances. as firearms became available they began to field relatively large numbers of mounted arquebusiers.