Concerning cavalry-heavy AI armies: The only ones I've ever really seen were, strange to say, Macedonians. Full stacks of Light Lancers and Companions. The "horse archer factions" rely on their few kinds of infantry a lot. I've seen Pontus and Armenia fielding stack upon stack of Eastern Infantry and whatnot, only occasionally supported by three or four horse archers. Same goes for Parthia. The Scythians seem to love Axemen, but they'll also field a lot of horse archers alright.
The only thing I ever had to worry about with these factions is the super-heavy Cataphracts or Cataphract archers. But these will come in small numbers, so never fear.
Elephants are a similar matter: I've never seen the AI field a lot of them. Fire arrows and swamping with massive numbers work like a charm to set them into panic mode. After that, just keep out of their way if you can. Still, a nuisance, I must admit. Try luring them with light chariots.
To be honest, my beloved rush strategy that I employ with all factions I'm playing whenever possible may make me a bit biased on these topics. I've yet to play a campaign that takes a hundred years...
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