The Great Lakes are basically oceans, the only difference is they’re freshwater.
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We have T-shirts that say, “Unsalted and Shark-Free.”
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Yes, they’re impressively vast. I was thinking something smaller as OP seems interested in staying near the East Coast, but it doesn’t matter as she wants salt water ocean…
Grey
My husband grew up in Rehoboth Beach. Lower Slower is a world unto itself and not a bad place
to visit but not a great place to live year round - especially if you have horses.
I know you said no to NJ but is that because you are thinking of the very spendy south Jersey beach towns? I’ve been looking into North Jersey a little more and there are some areas near the horse park that are within an hour of the beach. Actually, my sister lives in Huntington Valley PA and mentioned a friend in a nearby town who gets to some NJ beach town in about an hour - one that is Spring Lake adjacent but with cheaper prices. It sounded like she had been doing a lot of day trips this summer.
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I’m in Philly and can get to LBI on the Jersey shore in about 1.5 hours, sometimes less if traffic isn’t bad. And the drive is quite easy so day trips are definitely doable.
If you aren’t interested in NJ, you could look into southeastern PA - definitely very horsey areas with hunter paces but getting to the shore will take longer than 30 minutes but doable in 1.5-2 hours.
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Not salt water but Lake Erie!
This was December 15
You can see the lake and Cleveland skyline from here
And we have a castle
Northeast Ohio is a pretty solid area for all things horses plus there are miles of bridle trails at the local parks (of which there are many). We have good vet care, lots of hunter paces, 4 seasons, and the summers aren’t too awful with heat and humidity. We will have more miserable weeks, but we generally get reprieves. It’s currently in the high 60s and feeling very fall like.
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Not the case at all! While Fair Hill is great, we have tons of horse activities spread across the state. Southern MD (Anne Arundel and below) has a ton of options for great hunts, clinics, hunter paces, and proximity to shows and events. Baltimore County is excellent hunt country, and hosts a lot of good local H/J shows. The Howard County are and wester are beautiful horse country as well and are convenient to big venues like Waredaca and Loch Moy. Of the three areas mentioned, only Southern MD has the water access you’re looking for. If you’re willing to consider the bay/rivers, you could look in Chesapeake Beach/North Beach to get that small town feel but board in southern Anne Arundel where the facilities are a little more competitive (if that’s your interest). You are about 2-2.5 hours from OC and the Delaware beaches, but steps from the bay and tributaries. It’s also only about a 2 hour haul to Northern VA or Southern PA to access event more great trainers and venues if you get bored with the local scene 
it is expensive, humid and there are plenty of mosquitoes, but it is for sure horse country!
ETA based on your username - the mid-Atlantic is a great spot to be a TB enthusiast 
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I skimmed some of the posts but saw you mentioined Fairhill and asked about swimming in the bay around the area. Yes, you can…I was wondering what your “beach” reuirement is - are you looking for like typical ocean beach or water (apparently salt) and sand?
My friend has 13 acres a short (2min) walk to the Chesapeake bay - they are likely going to sell in about 2+ yrs (but who knows…plans keep changing). They currently live on 90 acres down the road.
Anyway, we have taken horses in the bay near their house when they lived there and her kids, along with neighborhood kids, have swam/swim there. People also launch boats from there. The beach area isn’t big but it is also a closed neighborhood beach - not public. Fairhill is about 15 min trailer ride from there and is about 5000 acre horse friendly park. There are some spots to take your horses into the water on the park - that’s into the rivers that run through the park.
As previously mentioned, going further south along the coast you will find more farms and horse activities. Personally, I never found this area of the world super humid but I grew up in Central Jersey and live about an hour from where I grew up so maybe I’m just used to it.
I like the area and the Fairhill area is not flat nor prone to flooding/being mucky. I would recommend it and have no desire to move out of the area.
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Growing up in the Fair Hill area and now living further south down the eastern shore, I feel like there is a noticeable difference in humidity from the Fair Hill area and where I now live a little over an hour south.
I frequently visit family right over the SE PA line (10 min from Fair Hill) and I can often feel a noteable difference between my house and my family’s house.
I feel like I’m pretty well-versed in humidity. In between growing up outside Fair Hill and now living further down the eastern shore, I lived in the mountains of central VA, middle TN, and central TX. Of all the places I have lived, middle TN and my current location on the eastern shore of MD near slower lower DE would be tied for the most humid.
I found TX to be the least humid overall, with the exception of SE TX- that area is just as humid as the mid-Atlantic, probably worse because you’re dealing with hotter temps more months out of the year.
Look at Charles and Calvert County, MD. There are plenty of horses and beach activities (Chesapeake beach, Cobb Island and Issue).
I live just over the MD/ DE line and my business is in Newark, DE. I went to high school in DE and worked in DE most of my life.
I would never in a million years choose DE as where to live, it’s crowded, the beaches are gross compared to beaches in most other states and it’s expensive. And the traffic, OMG the traffic. I probably shouldn’t voice my opinion of DE being that my customers are mostly Delawarians but I figure I’m safe on here lol.
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