Changes were being made to horses for future updates, and while I was editing things I figured I may as well tweak some things. I was surprised horses instantly stopped, as they were designed after classic horses which decelerate. I'm a bit shocked so many people are up in arms about how much they hate the fact it takes a split second to stop now.
The sword change is meant as a balancing factor for PvP, and now that I see it effects baddy killing I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing. Horses pros are its speed, you can swoop in, hit something and be gone before anyone can lay a finger on you. Being able to run around in circles doing that constantly I don't feel is balanced very well with foot combat. It simply discourages spamming your sword constantly and hitting anything you speed past.