Horses killed on the roads

I'm delighted to live in Horse country and observe the BHS/BC best practice. The presence of horses gives even the dimest drivers a significant hazard to pay attention to as they are large, unpredictable and capable of doing damage to the vehicle and driver. I'd say that the majority of horse riders are female so yet another reason to pay due care and attention.

As pointed out here we have a lot in common though both bicycles and horses have a human rider so should be the concern of any competent road user.
We certainly have roads that seem to have been designed by sheep, full of blind corners and crests. So it's disappointing how many are going to fast to stop safely in the distance they can see to be clear on their side of the carriageway. Familiarity breeds contempt for the hazards. Oversize vehicles do not help, and all wheel drive is no answer for being too wide since the hedges can not be traversed into a field (2m tall).

Taxing single occupancy of oversized vehicles and more Active Travel are clearly required and beneficial to horse riders too.

We face a common enemy out on the lanes for sure - that trumps by a country mile any differences (can't really think of any) we might have. It's why I find any horse/bike conflict so depressing. 

As we all know, bridleways aren't that commonplace - for my type of riding, and for hacking (walking or trotting your horse) you want a network of OS yellow roads that are passable, but don't really go anywhere and aren't a rat run. 

No, horse owners generally don't own whole country estates (one for any drivers tuning in). 

Call out when you think you are in hailing distance "bike behind" and wait for the rider to react. Watch the horse - jerky sudden movements are a bad sign, the rider may turn the horse 360 degrees to get it back under control. They can be unpredictable, they may be more used to cars than bikes, and riders' competence varies.  They are a herd animal, of course and are happier with other horses around them.  Pass as you would want to be passed, wave, say thanks. 

Horse brains remember things on a route and often react to anything "new" as a potential threat that wants to eat them - a drain cover, a wheelie bin, a rainbow crossing.

Most riders stick to known routes and try and stay off road, but getting from stables to good routes can mean unavoidably using busier roads.

I would guess that the majority of car/horse collisions are speed and corner related on country lanes - the sort of incident where as a cyclist you are able to hear an approaching car or plan for it and avoid being two abreast - horses can't generally dive into a hedge if a collision is imminent.

Be interesting to see stats on breakdown of horse/car collisions.

That's because horses are stupid and when they see a car or bike they start gyrating rather than staying calm like a human would. Also horse riders think they own the road and go in the middle of it when they should stay to the side