I agree.....I play a full MA/Bowcrafter. But where melee is my secondary and less trained skill (I'm not taking a horse down with my axe), a full melee that has a secondary of bow use, can.First of all - all MAs have weapons. They might be missing out on a 5% damage bonus or something I suppose. Secondly again that's presuming you kill their horse which means that you'd have to also have a bow or magic
What I'm saying is that 1v1, when both parties are starting on a horse, if the full MA is taken to the ground then-most of the time-the dance is over for them. But that's the beauty of the system. I do not expect to be an expert Melee when I've specialized on MA, so I handle my business the best I can in those circumstances.
I'm just giving the OP my view of the downsides.