When towing with something like that, it’s not the tow rating so much as the payload and axle weight ratings. Know how much your tongue weight will be fully loaded. Those are going to be your limiting factors. Don’t forget the weight of passengers and cargo in the vehicle and if the trailer has one, the dressing room. Your best bet will be an SUV on a truck frame and an all aluminum trailer without a DR.
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I use an 05 Yukon to pull an aluminum 2 horse slant. It works fine but I wouldn’t go through the mountains with it. The engine works hard while towing. I had an 03 Yukon XL previously and it was much nicer for towing with the longer wheelbase. The short Yukon squats low in the back (I need new airbags). I have used a 2019 F150 and it is remarkably better than either Yukon.
I used a 2002 expedition to pull an aluminum bp with dressing room for 14 years, usually with two small horses. It did fine on all our local trips but went slowly on the steep Oregon grades. I now have a bigger trailer and an F350. The most important thing with an SUV is to get at least the 1/2 ton version, and add a weight distribution system like the Equalizer hitch with sway bars. I would not want to haul with an SUV without that, and it makes for a much such smoother safer ride for the horses.
I don’t have a problem with using a larger SUV to tow a lighter, smaller 2 horse trailer, but especially since horses are a live load that can move around more than, say a strapped down boat, there are some suggestions I would make.
The length of the SUV matters for stability. You want a longer, rather than a shorter one. As @vali said, opt for the 1/2 ton SUV, not the 1/4 ton.
Get a weight distribution hitch with sway bars. Again, it makes a difference in the stability of the trailer.
Make sure you have really good electric brakes that are properly adjusted. Check them every single time you take the trailer out through the controller box. You don’t want to have to stop the trailer solely with the brakes of the SUV, especially in an emergency.
I hauled a lot with a 1500 gas Suburban with weight distributing hitch with tow package with separate brake controller box (not sure if you can get integrated controllers now like on the trucks). But there were certain conditions where my friend’s 2500 diesel did a lot better, but that was more on the go part than the stopping part which I think was about the same.
Yes, when I had my Expedition (w/tow package), it was built on an F150 frame and weighed a few hundred pounds more than an F150. Braking was something I never worried about, or more correctly, I never worried more than I would if I had an F150 (which is what I had before the 'spedition).
The key difference was the shorter wheelbase. But back then I had an early 90’s model trail et new yorker 2H BP, and most trailers were narrower and significantly shorter length back then, so sway was not an issue even though I didn’t have a WD hitch (and I put so many 600 mile days on that trailer, so we had some solid experience on the highway, albeit not in the mountains).
I towed the next trailer (2007 WB size) and that thing would have probably required a WD hitch for highway trips since it was about 3’0 longer and wider/taller, but I changed to an F250 crew cab within a few months, so that was plenty of truck length to not bother with a WD hitch. Now I haul an even longer trailer (23’ to hitch, IIRC) and for about 18 mos I made quite a few longish hauls to shows w/o a WD hitch and really never had an issue with sway. It wasn’t until I added the second carriage (one in the front of the trailer, one in the truck bed) that I thought NOW I was getting to a weight distribution set up on the truck/trailer that would require a WD hitch.
Pro tip - if you get a WD hitch/sway bars, invest in an electric jack. That makes the whole thing easy peasy to deal with! I do have to say, that the WD htch (an Equalilizer, in my case) does make it about as worry free as a GN. I remember hitting a spot crossing Paynes Prairie, south of Gainesville, FL, where if you are EVER going to have sway, that spot is the King of All Sway… I got boxed in between 2 semis, another one in front of me, all as we were passing a 4th parked on the not generous right side emergency lane… all of us 8’0 wide… the steering wheel never even tugged in my hands, it rode so smooth. That just about made the horrendous noise in tight turns worth it! 
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I do need third row seating, as well as space for dogs. Truck is just not functional for my family.
For years I towed my bumper-pull trailer with a 1-ton GMC Suburban. It had no problem pulling or stopping. However, the high profile made it not a lot of fun in high winds, or when semis went blowing by me. I now have a Ford F350 diesel pickup which I like a lot better for hauling…
When I got back into horses I appropriated the Suburban we bought for hauling the twins and their stuff to band and scout camp etc. It was a 1/2 ton and did pretty OK with my Trail Et New Yorker bumper pull with dressing room. When we bought a new SUV we special ordered a 3/4 ton Yukon XL and I have to say that it is a far better towing vehicle than the 1/2 ton. It is in fact a beast. It is still going strong with 100K+ miles. I would never go back to a 1/2 ton.
That’s what I use but it is a 3/4 ton . It weighs 6300 pounds and is the long version. Length and weight of the tow vehicle is very important. Someone correct me but you don’t want the tow vehicle to be less than 75% of what you are towing so if you are 5000 pounds the tow vehicle should not weigh less than 3750 pounds. Mine is usually running about 1:1 on vehicle weight vs trailer weight.
If that’s true, then a half ton vehicle couldn’t even pull an empty trailer. And your 3/4 ton vehicle would weigh 1500 lbs, not 6300. Because a ton is 2000 lbs. Unless I’m sorely mistaken about something here.
Ford Expeditions are 100% built on a truck frame. You can google the hell out of it- it is built on an F-150 frame. I’m not sure what Ibex is thinking of- maybe her friend was driving a Ford Explorer?
I have some personal qualms about Ford vs. Chevy but both build their larger SUV’s on truck frames not the crappy little Unibody that you find on smaller, lighter SUV’s. That’s definitely something you should check.
The rating (3/4 ton, 1/2 ton, etc) is about payload capacity, not weight of the vehicle.
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I have been hauling with a Sequoia for years without issue. I added a weight-distributing anti-sway hitch and recommend that.
See Gardenhorses reply above. 1/2 ton vs 3/4 ton is capacity, not vehicle weight. You need to do some reading on the subject prior to getting something. Half ton vs 3/4 ton vs 1 ton trucks is towing basics 101.
Thanks guys. Yes, I need to do further research. That’s why I’m here asking questions. I appreciate being educated, so thank you! I’m nowhere near ready to purchase, but gaining this knowledge has been very helpful.
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