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[Andeerz]

Hmmmm... Reading up on bows has been very interesting, and a lot of what I read pretty much emphasizes that there are variations in even the same "kind" of bow... as in, a "longbow" couldhave a very different draw weight depending on who you were arming, what tactics it was involved in, and so forth.

So, yeah, "longbows" could be used on horseback... but that longbow would not be the 120+lb draw weight bow used by someone on the ground, and probably have a draw weight of AT MOST 80 lbs.

I think eventually one should be able to define (maybe loosely) the draw weight of the bows you request of the bowyer, and that certain draw weights might require woods (or metals, especially in the case of high-draw-weight-crossbows!) of certain qualities.  Or, could use alternate constructions depending on availability of resources or use (like composite bows used by the mongolians, turks, etc.)

For example, if you want a good bow for a horseman, perhaps one could ask the bowyer for a bow of ~50-70 lb. draw weight with as compact a structure as possible (solved by composite construction used by the mongolians, or the crazy looking horseman bows made by the turks).  Whereas, if you wanted to outfit a ground unit where they could actually draw high draw-weight-bows and wanted high range for area denial (like the welsh and their longbows), you could order those massive-draw weight ~100lb bows.   

[NW_Kohaku]

I would point out that many of those bows are significant technological achievements of their time.

Just looking at some of the wikipedia articles of things like those Japanese Yumi, they evolved that bow from a single solid piece of wood to a composite laminate of bamboo and wood with up to 5 layers over the course of centuries of refinement for the specific purpose of horseback archery. 

I also remember watching some of the (yes, I know, somewhat dubious source) History Channel specials on archery where they were talking about how, as bows developed, the grips they used to hold the bow changed. 

Most early bows simply didn't have serious draw strengths, and could be drawn with a simple pinching of the index finger knuckle and thumb.  Later war bows required either the Mediterranean Grip, which involved the full fist hauling back the bow, with the thumb stabilizing the arrow, or the Mongolian Grip, where the thumb was hooked around the string, and the fist held the thumb in place.  (That poundage of draw is what they were actually pulling back with those fingers, after all - try to lift 100 lbs of materials with two fingers.)

It would be an open question whether cultures should have the technological capacity to make bows of any draw strength they darn well please, and have specialized high-strength composite bows for horse archery.

[Andeerz]

Hmmm... I read that the Yumi may have NOT originally been developed for horse archery (as the unique shape of the bow was around before horses were commonplace in warfare in Japan), and had that shape as a result of the wood it was constructed from, and was built like that to accommodate and take advantage of the wood's unique mechanical properties (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yumi, the difference in modulus of elasticity from top to bottom).

And I think that your open question is a good one... one that might be addressed in the game by my ideas for knowledge spread... heh heh...

But, yeah, it seems like the technological capacity to make bows of whatever draw strength not only had to do with engineering of the shape of the bow itself, but also the availability of suitable wood (or other materials...) with appropriate mechanical properties. 

And bows to be used on horseback don't necessarily need to be high-strength composite bows.  Even a comparatively wussy small bow with a 40lb draw could still kill a person easily... you just had to do it at closer ranges than stronger bows.  And on horseback, you are afforded the ability to get in relatively close (which was commonly done in horseback archery and gunnery on the battlefield) and depart quickly.