Oy - not to totally devolve the conversation but I had something very similar happen recently. There’s a horse friendly beach where I live that cars can drive on (sand highway). I had a guy come up with his daughter and ask if she could pet my 3 year old mare. At least he asked. He then proceeded to turn to his daughter and ask her if she wanted to ride the horse!! Mind you, he neither asked me nor did I know them 2 minutes before. Thankfully the girl was shy and said no, saving me from having to explain the faux paus surrounding the situation, but I was dumbfounded.
I feel like the general public is either terrified of horses or think they are these magical unicorns that love to carry us around and would never ever dream of misbehaving in any way.
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In PA a horse is considered a form of Legal Transportation, so you stay with the traffic. Technically I can block the whole lane, but I don’t of course. I just ride as far to the right as I can, and wave or say thank you if they pass carefully. I’ve run into a few Asshats who deliberately try to spook the horse which is why I hate road riding.
Bicycles coming up behind my horses really spook them. Not much better meeting them head on on a narrow twisting trail either. Luckily most are very kind about it. I met three guys on good Friday while I was riding, and they were on Mt. bikes. They politely asked to pass and how was the best way to do it. I was so happy they asked! Told them to TALK to the horses because it seems to me that the horse often cannot figure out WHAT a bicyclist is. If they have their heads down, and Mt. Bikers often do they look like a weird flying insect. They make little noise, and move pretty fast. Once they said something to my horse, he visibly relaxed. I thanked them, they thanked me, all were happy. 
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Glad for a happy ending! Its so refreshing to run across people that respect horses and their riders
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My mare’s version of a spook is a quick startle in place; however, the lady I ride with has a gelding that will shit-and-git when he spooks, so she’s had some good spooks on him because of those silent but deadly bicycles. 
Now when we see them coming (or my mare gives a start so I know something strange is behind us) I will yell out “HI THERE!” in hopes that they will say something in return. Usually they do, and when they acknowledge us, I will say something like “Those bicycles are quiet and sneak up on horses, its good to call out when you see a horse just to give them a chance to see you!” in a very nice voice.
All of them have responded positively, some were folks who hadn’t a clue that that was the best thing to do, so we’ve been able to educate many.
ETA: all that and I never answered the OPs original question haha
I ride with traffic - I find that my horse and myself are more settled with vehicles coming up behind that towards her face. When I hear a vehicle behind me, I will turn around to make sure they can see us (and are moving over and/or slowing down). If they don’t seem to be taking measures to do either, I will try to get off the road. The worst is when the sun is going down, I fear that drivers are blinded by the sun and wouldn’t see a horse until it was too late.
I find that most drivers have good intentions but NO CLUE about horses, so that some kind of interaction can be very beneficial. Get their attention–make eye contact-- be ESPECIALLY friendly and nice. Wave and smile like a movie star queen on a float! That gets their attention if they haven’t noticed you and are about to speed past. Most people respond with a smile and slow down and are careful. Most people really enjoy seeing a beautiful horse, makes their day.
That said, because there are crazy drivers, I ride on the side of the road that has the best visibility/shoulder, like many posters have mentioned. Whatever is safest for you is what you should do…no cop is going to give you a ticket!.
Bikes…yes, because they are so quiet. I do attempt to tell cyclists to call out or say Hello when near horses so they know they are human! Riding facing traffic is better when dealing with bikes–the horses are ok when they see them coming.
Our road isn’t often used as a travel road so most people driving on it live on it or on an off street. It seems people have gotten pretty used to seeing me and now almost everyone waves as they drive past (at least the cars coming at me). My horse is so used to the road walk now that it has become our quiet place - a great way to mentally and physically warm up/cool down from a ride.
Someone asked the “proper” way for a cyclist to pass horses. The trail literature I’ve seen put out by multi-use groups advocates that if bicyclists and horses are approaching one another, it’s the biker’s responsibility to give way to the horse (ie: make visual/vocal contact, stop the bike, get off and move bike off trail to allow horses to pass). If approaching horses from behind, they recommend making contact via voice, asking permission to pass the horses, dismounting from the bike, and walking it past the halted equines. Basically, doesn’t matter if it’s hikers, bikers, ATVers, etc. horses always have the right-of-way.
Out here the mountain bikers will sometimes whoosh out of nowhere on mountain trails-- THAT is a scenario that is worse than any bear I’ve ever encountered! Thankfully many bikers I’ve met have been very considerate, but sometimes when you’re in a tight place I don’t blame them when they come around a blind corner and fly by without yielding or stopping-- they didn’t know we were there, and they’re going so fast it might cause them to slide out and crash trying to stop. I might feel differently if any of us had actually had an accident because of it, but we’ve only just had spooks. Knocks on wood
I ride on whichever shoulder is wider and safer. I rarely have any problems. Most people are respectful and give plenty of space.
Very few people seem to slow down around here, but thankfully the stretch of road we ride on to get to trails is straight an has a nice, wide grassy shoulder.
The new (spooky) horse is oddly enough very good with traffic, including loud motorcycles. She’s more worried about the landscaping rocks/bears next to the road—priorities, you know.
The old horse was fabulous with traffic, to the point of standing calmly when a bright yellow rattling gasoline tanker whizzes by at 60 miles an hour and throws gravel up at her.
Mountain bikers exploding out of nowhere is always unnerving—I was out by myself trotting along a dirt two-track one day and a mountain-bike rider burst out of the bushes at top speed along with two growling (off-leash) dogs just a few feet in front of us. Thankfully my horse stopped faster than the mountain-biker did and all I had to do was turn her 180 degree spin into a 360 degree spin. She stood calmly once she realized what the monster was.
Ha my horse is also great with traffic but gets really suspicious about anything out of place. Like that bucket wasn’t there yesterday we better give it plenty of room just in case
