Pack Your Swim Suit, Flip-Flops & Family for a Great Summer in Traverse City, MI!

April 15, 2025

Packing for a horse show typically requires the same set of clothes week in and week out, especially in the summer time. Not so for those attending Horse Shows by the Bay in Traverse City, Michigan this summer! Not only have these horse shows become a great place for riders of all skill levels, offering classes for just about everyone, they have also become THE place people look forward to showing at each summer because of the area’s fantastic weather and wide variety of attractions. With so many other activities to do in Traverse City besides showing horses, exhibitors suitcases might be a bit more full than normal to include fun items like bathing suits, snorkels, fishing rods and even boats for some families, as they gear up for this month-long vacation-destination series.

Traverse City offers the opportunity for exhibitors to show at one of the most beautiful facilities in the country, and also to spend time with their families in one of the best vacation spots in the United States. States Horse Shows by the Bay owner and manager, Alex Rheinheimer: “The area has such a cool vibe – great food, unique shopping, and is situated on the most beautiful body of water (Grand Traverse Bay); so right away, when we discovered Traverse City, we just knew that our exhibitors would really enjoy their summers in Michigan both with their horses and their families.”

The list of amenities is wide-ranging and FUN for the entire family, including a casino, numerous challenging golf courses, fishing or boating on the lake. The area’s been selected by Golf Magazine as one of the top six golf destinations in the country, including designs by Nicklaus, Palmer, Player and Weiskopf.

Recently, Traverse City has been added to a number of “best of” lists from some of the top travel advisors. AOL Travel News gave Traverse City the #8 spot in its list of America’s Top Ten Beach Towns, and named Traverse City one of the Top 10 “Coolest Towns in the States” in May of 2010. TripAdvisor.com listed Traverse City in second place in “Our Top 10 Charming Small Towns,” while Livability.com (April 2010) listed Traverse City in first place in its Top 10 list of “Surprising Foodie Towns,” after surveying 200 American cities in April of 2010. Traverse City has obviously made an impact on the critics, and even made National Geographic’s list as one of America’s Top adventure towns. Best of all, National Geographic has recently named Traverse City’s Sleeping Bear Dunes as one of its best views of 2011.

“My clients base their summer schedule around Traverse City,” said trainer Heather Irvine from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. “They love being able to show during the morning and then hit the beach in the afternoon, there are not many places you can do that in the summer! Plus, the mornings are chilly and the horse show is great. There are so many delicious restaurants, I can’t wait to spend four weeks there this summer.”

Top rider Peter Pletcher has won numerous hunter classes at the nation’s most prestigious competitions, and plans to again bring his horses this year to Horse Shows by the Bay. “It is a fantastic place to be. I love the horse show. Besides a great facility and schedule, it’s located in such a super town - overall it’s just a fun place to show. My clients love going, because it is a fantastic place for them to take their family for a vacation. They get two for one; they can take their family on vacation and be at a wonderful horse show,” he said.

Whether it’s showing at one of the Midwest’s most enjoyable horse shows, cruising Front Street’s many antique shops, indulging in a massage at one of the local spas, or touring one of the many Old Mission Peninsula’s wineries, the possibilities of things to do are endless!

Hunter/Jumper reservations are now being accepted on a first come-first served basis until June 1. For more information please visit www.horseshowsbythebay.com or call Alex Rheinheimer @ 561.723.6287.

Written by HJN Staff Reporter · Filed Under Horse Shows by the Bay, USA
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