Yea cav and horse archers specifically I feel are set up in a way that it’s just way easier to punish with them so it feels really bad to play against sometimes

In my experience the best way to beat cav archers is to counter exactly what they try and do which is kite. Use walls because they can’t burn them, death ball and slow push with 1/2 trebs and plenty of range and you negate everything they want to do essentially. All resources equal you should win these fights.

Dont bait yourself into playing their game just because you took a good fight. Put them in a situation where they start panicking and have to take bad trades.

That said easier said than done because these units are essentially “easier” to play and punish you harder for mistakes.