Illustrations of Sassanid Persian Clibanarii

[Luka Borščak]

Well, cavalryman is most vulnerable on hands and legs, most cuts are going to hit him in the limbs. And scale on the torso should deflect more than enough. I agree mail might be a bit too vulnerable on the torso in case of lance thrusts, but for cuts it would be fine enough. Scale is fine enough even for lances.