Maple Lane Trailers in Canada (near Ottawa) sells Boeckmann. With the dollar exchange, essentially 30% off the price. Great customer service as well.
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There is no exaggeration. Totally different braking system; totally different design. European trailers are made with inertia breaking systems - essentially as soon as you stop pulling the trailer automatically and mechanically starts slowing.
I’ve towed giants up and down ski hills with zero push and zero issues.
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Man, how the prices have changed since 2020! I don’t think you can get a Yukon XL for less than 90K now, never mind the tariffs.
Anyhow, I hauled with a 1999 Suburban and then upgraded to a 2011 3/4 ton Yukon XL. There is no comparison - the 3/4 ton is a beast. I still use it although I rent a truck from Enterprise if I have to go any further than an hour.
To be honest, I would go the rental route if I were you. It’s about $90 a day for a nice 3/4 ton supercab truck set up for hauling. At the current cost for a SUV that’s a safe hauler, you’d be better off buying something that suits your family and renting a truck when you need it. The hubs and I gamed out what a new SUV would be vs renting and we just can’t make the numbers work to buy a new one. Plus you get a nearly new truck every time and if there’s something wrong with it, it’s someone else’s problem.
Just something else to consider.
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Oh thanks so much will call them
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Where do you rent from? I looked into this and every car company now does electric only
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Enterprise Truck Rental. At least where I live, it’s separate from the car rental biz. You use a different online reservation system and the physical office handles only trucks and vans. It’s a bit inconvenient but we make it work.
The problem here is a travel trailer is a very different situation than hauling a live load that shifts on its own.
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I’ve learned a few things in the last six months.
When I bought my new F-250 back in 2021, I had to get a reducer for the truck receiver as my shank was a 2". I never really wondered why. so I looked it up one day. Ford, back in 2017, changed how they do receivers on trucks. If you have a F-150 then you get a 2" receiver. If you have a F-250 gas, you get a 2.5" receiver. An F-250 diesel or above gets a 3" receiver. Having the reducer in there created extra play and I hated it. I ended up replacing the shank with a 2.5" shank. So why did Ford do that? The trucks now have a lot more towing power. In theory my F-250 can tow around 14,000 lbs, which is significantly more than my previous 250. So they are attempting to match towing power with shank size.
My mechanic who has a 2021 F-150 told me that after working in my truck, he noticed the hitch was bolted into four places on my frame. He looked at his and saw that the hitch was on the F-150 was only bolted on in two places.
The torsion bars on the weight distributing hitch are a must. This past winter I was coming home from a trip. I had to hitch up in the dark. It turned out the trailer receiver was not fully down on the ball and I didn’t notice it. I kept hearing a funky sound when I turned. When I pulled into a gas station, I checked things out and notice the partially connected ball. The torsion bars on the hitch kept me from having a disconnect and a wreck.
I have, as anyone that trailers does, been severely cut off on highways. The torsion bars have really helped me keep control of the situation. I wouldn’t have a bumper pull without them.
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I’ve hauled both a Euro trailer and American style trailers and they both have their pros and cons. I had the Euro style trailer while I lived in Europe. It was fine and served it’s purpose.
I currently have a 2H goodneck in a Ram 2500 diesel and I like that combo. Mostly because there are some long hills I’ve encountered and we have strong winds here. It’s a stable combination, IME. A gas truck would probably suffice, but I’d still prefer a 3/4 ton pickup.
Many people tow with SUV’s and it can be fine. As others have mentioned, I wouldn’t go for one with a unibody. If you do the math and you’re well within your specs, then you’ll probably be alright. I’m not sure that I’d be loving hauling with a 6 cylinder Grand Cherokee though. MAYBE one horse in a Euro trailer, but that would depend on a few things.
I’m not saying buy the biggest thing you can find, and I’m perhaps a little conservative on this, but do the (correct) math, take into account weather, trip lengths, terrain, and the fact that it’s a live load.
I’ve seen a few Euro trailers come up for sale on Facebook. Primarily in the PNW, Carolinas, and Florida. There has been one or two in the Midwest and NE though. You just have to act FAST.
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I have a few trailers, but our smallest one is a 2h bumper pull that is 3200lb without a horse in it. I have towed with one large pony with my Escalade, so maybe 4300lb all loaded up (V8, 420hp, 8,200lb towing capacity) and it hauled for a short trip ok. Ate lots of fuel though so be prepared for that! I’m lucky as we also have a 3500 dually and a Freightliner that I can tow with so only used my Escalade when I really had to.
I now have a 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee (V6, 290hp, 6200lb towing) and I really, really would not like to tow with this and I don’t want to know what the fuel mileage would be if I had to. I find it doesn’t have good enough get up and go if I had to stomp on it (now its my first V6 in over 20 years so I’m really used to V8’s, more hp and trucks). My friend has the same Jeep and does tow her 1 horse with it, but its not something I would be comfortable with honestly.
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Yeah I know our trailer is on the lighter side so you probably need something beefier.
totally agree…just sharing my general experience with towing + a jeep since Wagoneer was on their list
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Plus the unibody construction means even if it gets the job done, the body of the vehicle is not designed for the rigors of towing. With the cost of vehicles today, I wouldn’t be eager to deliberately reduce their life expectancy!
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Afaik, the SUV with the highest towing capacity is the Lincoln Navigator at 8200lb.
I’d still never haul horses with an SUV.
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Lincoln Navigator is built on the T3 frame which is Ford’s incumbent large truck platform (same frame as Ford’s F super duty series trucks) and is built at the Kentucky Truck Plant since 2009
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Would you like to clarify what you mean by SUV? Not all SUVs are created the same as this discussion shows. For example, we special ordered a 3/4 ton Yukon XL and it handles my Trail Et with 2 horses just fine. Would I do the same with a plain old short body Yukon? No I would not. I wouldn’t haul with most of the SUVs on the OP’s list but I confess I don’t know their specs so not the most informed opinion. Also, I like hauling with a big honking truck so I am biased. I just feel safer.
Side note on rental trucks: if you decide to go this route, make sure you have a Plan B for emergency situations. The office I use isn’t open on the weekends or after 6 on weekdays. I have a couple of people I can call if I need a truck in an emergency. I can also use my Yukon since the closest vet school is less than an hour from us. Just thought I’d point this out so you could factor it into your decision.
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Another vote for a gooseneck with a Ram 2500.
You’ve gotten a lot of great advice, things to think about:
-Terrain where you may hall–I would worry about braking with a full load on a real mountain/hill with a SUV
-Weather conditions when you my haul
-How does your horse haul: Does your horse stand quietly or rock the trailer? My horse rocks the trailer at red lights and I feel it hauling in a 3-horse gooseneck with a dually. If you don’t know, I would find out before spending the $$$>
I like the stability that comes from a gooseneck vs. a bumper pull. If you are ever in an accident, I do think goosenecks are safer for the horse. In a real accident, the gooseneck is going to have more stability.
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Anything that’s not a pickup truck.
FWIW I’d haul a max of 1 horse with an F150/1500. I want what I’m hauling to be a solid 3,000+ pounds below my vehicle’s capacity, and I want the towing vehicle to be heavy enough that the trailer isn’t going to influence it when breaking or in wind. There aren’t any SUVs that fit that bill unless you’re using a Euro trailer (which I also wouldn’t use).
I wish Ford still made the Excursion. 
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Ford still makes the Expedition, and it can tow up to 9600 lbs depending on configuration.
I’m very happy towing with my older Expedition, usually just 1 horse but sometimes 2.
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I towed a two horse bumper pull with no dressing room with a Toyota Sequoia for over 20 years with no problem whatsoever. The gas mileage is atrocious however so keep that in mind. I get a max of about 14 miles to the gallon which drops to about 6 when towing
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