I am looking to purchase a vehicle I can haul my 15.2 warmblood, and maybe one day a pony. I’d like an SUV as I have 3 kids so three row seating would be useful.
My goal is to get the smallest car possible that will haul my horse and family comfortably.
Looking at Sequoia, Wagoneer and Infiniti QX80. Hoping to get a preowned one to save a little $$$. The cars that are available in my area all seem to be about the same price
I’ve hauled for nearly 30yrs w/SUVs, all 6cyl engines.
First tow vehicle was a Chevy Blazer, trailer was aluminum 2H & horses were TB & TWH, each weighing around 1K. It was my husband’s daily driver & not new when we had the hitch added.
We had to replace brakes the 2nd year after & I’ll blame that on hauling, though we didn’t do it often & always on flat ground & highways.
Next was a Ford Explorer, same trailer. I had that combo for 7yrs. Hauled half a dozen times a year, longest trip 3h.
I briefly had a GN w/LQ, then another GN w/DR & pulled these with an F250 w/V10.
I never liked either the GNs or the Monster truck.
Then changed to a 16’ aluminum Stock & used Chevy Trailblazer.
When the Chevy started aging about 3yrs ago I traded in for another Explorer - also used but 2017 vintage.
I’ve never had a problem hauling as much as 5h with this combination.
This article has good info on how to determine if your potential tow vehicle is adequate, especially if you want to use an SUV.
https://equispirit.com/info/towing-safely.htm
It’s more complicated than I thought. When I bought my current F-150, I just assumed that it would be fine for towing, especially since it came with the towing package. It turned out that it was not the best version of the F-150 for towing a horse trailer and I was never happy with its towing performance compared to my previous F-150.
Not a horse trailer but I haul my 20’ Airstream Bambi with our 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe and have had no issues. It’s capable and feels safe. We used to haul our trailer with a F150 which did a great job but I hated driving that thing when we weren’t hauling, hence trading in for the Jeep.
I read that article and can’t get my brain to understand it…… so many new terms here for me. Are there places that know how to safely fit my car for horse hauling? A trailer dealer?
Ok thanks. The trailer dealer also recommended a grand Cherokee but now all of those are v6 not v8 so it seems close to the weight limit if I end up hauling two horses at some point
Just remember, towing isn’t just based on what you can safely pull, but what you can also safely stop. Ensure your towing vehicle has the right braking setup to safely maneuver in emergency situations. I’ve found that while many SUVs can safely pull a rig, when the situation gets sketch is when you want that extra oomph (braking, wind, high speeds, bad weather, big hills, etc…). Just another factor to keep in mind as you select a vehicle that is the best for your needs!
Thanks! A lot of people have said that to me but how do you assess that?
I’ve towed with bumper pulls and goosenecks. I’ve always felt more comfortable driving and parking a gooseneck.
From what you’ve mentioned, the 2+1 options for trailers are great.
Trucks can go one forever and the hauling of what you’re looking to do doesn’t really have the wear and tear that 4-6+ horses will.
I think you need to determine what your climate looks like and where you’re taking the vehicle. Plenty of king cabs that have space for storage and kiddos. Some nice truck bed boxes that can work as additional storage. Doesn’t hurt to also have the room to throw in water buckets and or hay bales. Plus, you become everyone’s best friend when it comes to moving furniture around town, so great way to make some additional dollars when not hauling Fluffy out and about.
Just my $.02
Things that I have learned that I didn’t know I didn’t know (from growing up only hauling commercial and not having anyone around me with hauling experience):
-neither the truck dealer nor the trailer dealer necessarily have a clue
-the weight limit is not actually the weight limit with live weight, you want to be way under
-the hitch installed on the vehicle might have a lower weight limit than the actual vehicle
-even a 1500 suburban feels like not enough truck for a lightweight two horse with no tack room when hauling two horses going uphill
This really depends on what kind of trailer you’re looking to buy. You can get away with a smaller SUV if you’re open to a European trailer, but those are more expensive and harder to find. For a standard American trailer you’ll want a bigger SUV or a truck, but you have more trailer options.
I just went through this last fall and decided on the Euro trailer route since a smaller SUV made a lot more sense for my driving habits, but price-wise it was about the same to get a cheaper trailer and a truck. Whatever you go with you really don’t want to be anywhere close to maxing out your towing capacity, and that has to account for everything you’re carrying in the car too. When I was running the numbers I used the 80% rule that seems to be the common recommendation on the forum to figure out how much towing capacity I needed to feel safe and started car shopping from there.
How did you find a European trailer they seem impossible to find !! (In northeast us)
I tow a 2horse Hawk, no dressing room, with a 2022 GMC Yukon SLT (not the long body) around Maryland/Va/WV no problems. Usually just my 15.3 chonk of a mare, sometimes 2 horses and I stay under an hour. I wouldn’t want to do a long haul or big mountains with 2 horses I don’t think. But that’s not my use case.
Exactly this. I used to haul a Boeckmann with a big SUV and it was great going up and down California and up and down hills. The trailers have inertia breaks. I practiced driving it a lot empty and it didn’t matter how hard I hit the breaks, the trailer doesn’t push the tow vehicle. They are great but they are also 1) expensive 2) hard to find 3) don’t have much room for gear, trunks etc, 4) can have space for large horses, but some horses prefer a more solid enclosure with more space in the stall.
Ultimately I sold it for a STX van, which I love but is the least economic choice I’ve made in my life, which is really saying something.
I would second or third that dealers absolutely have no idea what a truck can haul. And if you want to haul more than one horse, and don’t want to go Euro trailer, you are probably better served buying a truck and US trailer.
Also, this book is a little older but still a great resource as are many of the people on this board. You can search old threads for a ton of wonderful information like this one.
I’m planning to order one new through a dealer. They’re almost impossible to find used so I just factored that into my plans and projected costs. From the northeast you can reach out to either Traveled Lane or Maple Lane Trailers if that’s the direction you decide to go. They both provide a lot of useful information on towing specs for those types of trailers.
You’re looking at pretty different vehicle specs though if you go that route vs an American trailer, so you do kind of need to narrow down what trailer you want before people can recommend specific cars. I personally didn’t think I’d be comfortable hauling a standard American trailer with a larger SUV (even though I know plenty of people do), so I was comparing between a smaller SUV or a truck. For the SUVs, I wanted at least 6000 lbs of towing capacity and semi-decent gas mileage, which is a pretty short list of options. If there are other features you’re particular about that’ll limit you even further.
If you have room to park an extra car you could also seriously consider buying a dedicated tow vehicle and a separate car for daily driving. With a used truck you could probably wind up spending around the same as just one of the larger SUVs you listed and have a lot more options for what you can tow. I only have one parking spot or would have done this myself.
I am such a total worrywart when trailering.
I tow an older gooseneck two horse with a chev 1500 and all the time wish I had a bigger truck. I’ve never had problems pulling, but I have certainly been “pushed” by my trailer when I had to hit the breaks quickly. Has happened all of one time because I’m a very defensive driver - but once was enough. And yes, I had my trailer breaks calibrated correctly. When people comment on stopping power it’s a real thing!
I always wonder with the European trailers that they exaggerate what can safely tow it in order to make a sale. I’m a gooseneck girly for life so I’ll never know!
I now have a gooseneck and a F250 and have had for 30 years. Like @CBoylen, I didn’t have much reference when I started hauling. I bought the biggest Jeep made at the time and 2 horse Trailet bumper pull. I was driving in the rain and wind (no horse on board) on a 3 lane highway. The wind caught that trailer and blew me across all 3 lanes like a sailboat. Pulling is one thing…managing the trailer in adverse circumstances is a whole different kettle of fish and something to keep in mind.
My preference is for a body-on-frame SUV tow vehicle as opposed to one built with unibody construction.
Here’s a link to an article looking at all the body-on-frame SUVs in today’s new vehicle market.
I respect your quest for an SUV rather than a truck. I much prefer pulling my two horse BP with my Lexus SUV, which is body -on-frame, than with my 3/4 ton pickup. I towed for thirty-plus years with a string of SUVs before finally getting a truck (2500 HD GMC). I needed the truck to tow a new equipment trailer.
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g32670535/every-body-on-frame-suv-sold-today/
This is all so accurate and great advice! In 99% of situations you’d rather have more power and stop than you need then not enough. Especially if you’re also hauling kids along with the horses. Having towed a camp trailer and a 3h bumper pull that were around the same weight around in all kinds of weather conditions, there’s just something different about having live animals on board!
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