I know darned well there is a lengthy EV thread. I have followed and contributed to it. This is different. The OP asked about a suitable SUV to tow her specific trailer and with room for her dogs. The Rivian SUV model looks to me like one option to be considered.
Why are you so concerned about me posting an EV in response?
I’m not concerned about what you post, I’m concerned that using an electric truck to haul horses is a bad idea and I was sharing that fact.
I have an electric truck, I drive it daily, I love it. But it is not a horse hauling option.
I also have an EV truck. And mine is not equipped to haul a trailer. You can’t just summarily dismiss all EV trailer towing options out there. But I guess you already have. Moot point.
When you are back in Aiken, I would be happy to try to get you hooked up with my neighbor. She uses her Rivian to pull her horse trailer, probably at least weekly. She might be willing to give you a demonstration.
I’m sure an EV truck is fine for around town, but OP stated she may drive up to an hour one-way. Depending on weight of horses and gear (my Equispirit was 3500lbs, PLUS 2k in horseflesh, PLUS gear puts me at around 6k), and topography, she very likely may not even make it TO her destination, let alone be able to make it back. And I’ve tried to charge at the horse show - that doesn’t work either. I wouldn’t spend $80k on a new truck/SUV just to find out that it doesn’t do what you wanted it to (I did that! it sucks!).
Yeah, not interested in an EV. Will investigate the suggestions so far. My trailer is either 3700 or 3880 lbs - will need to check my paperwork but that’s what I could tell from the Hawk website. So with horses and other stuff it’s probably around 6600 lbs loaded.
The new grand cherokees had impressive tow ratings if you get the Hemi, if I recall. I towed a 2 horse slant with one for years without issue.
Sorry to ask, but what’s a common weight for your trailers? I’m not used to imperial system, so I have to convert all the time and I got something around 1700kg for just the trailer without horses? Is this right? Are this trailers for 2 horses? If so, this is freaking heavy and no wonder you guys need trucks to tow this.
That seems to be a correct conversion for this trailers weight, and yes it’s much heavier than the European options. Part of it is the materials used in the build (more metals which are heavier) and part of it is that this trailer has 2 full size ramps (side and rear) which are heavy and another part is the decent size tack room on it (more floor length and more weight there). The closest trailer in similarity with regard to floor plan would be one of the Equitreks, I think, but even those have 1 ramp to this trailers 2.
This is a heavier BP model due to the side ramp but not wildly heavier. Most 2H BO with 1 ramp and tack room are in or near the 3,000lb range. Not too far off from the Brenderup empty weight of 2150, but the balance of the American trailers is in a way that they put much more weight on the tongue which makes a notable difference in how they pull/ how “heavy” of a vehicle you need to pull them.
Thanks! We do have a lot of trailers with 2 ramps. Those weigh around 800 - 1000kg, which is 1700 to 2200 lbs. Mostly made of alumium and a polyroof.
That’s how they look 
But intresting fact about the “tongue weight”. We call it “Stützlast” and this is kinda low around 75 to 100kg.
You’re going to need a vehicle with a bigger v8 engine if it’s the 1500 variety. The hawk with the side ramp is longer and heavier than just a standard 2horse. You will kill your vehicles transmission sooner than later.
I tow my 2 horses Exiss with my Escalade and it tows really, really well. A little hard on the fuel when I go longer distances of course. We also have a dually and a Freightliner that can tow any of our horse trailers, and we do use one of these trucks to tow the 2 horse if we are gong long distances. I just use my Escalade if I’m alone or I’m going a short distance. My Escalade is also my daily driver to work
I can easily fit my one 115lb pup in the back and still take 4 adults. The back can easily hold 2 -3 of my girls in there.
It can seat 7 (which I have done) and I just keep the back 3 seats folded down so my pup can ride in the back.
Thanks for this. Husband suggested an Escalade so it’s helpful to hear you like yours.
I (well, SO actually) take the rear seats out of our crew cabs and put down dog beds. More room and no seat to fall off of!
Also, if you go SUV shopping, be really careful about the towing capacity of the particular vehicle you are looking at. Manufacturers generally list the max with the optimal equipment combination. And dealers will just regurgitate it. Google is your friend. Check around what engine, axle ratio, length (many SUVs come in standard and XL these days), and other options are required for the tow capacity claimed by the manufacturer. We were shopping Wagoneers last year, didn’t buy one, and were shocked how hard it was to locate one that actually had the advertised tow capacity.
I was thinking there were some with the front ramp like the Bockmann Portax K but it’s not quite the same as the Hawk here - the Hawk ramps are wider + heavier (and the bigger tack area too). Same general concept but as with most American trailer concepts - bigger 
The tongue weight on American trailers averages about 10% of the total trailer weight, IIRC, so 380lbs empty for this trailer (172kg) or 600lb ish with the horses in it (272kg). Though tongue weight with horse trailers tends to be a bit more nuanced than that as some trailers are designed/ balanced in a way that loading the horses, while making the trailer heavier overall) actually decreases the tongue weight due to the lever effect of the axels (hopefully that makes some sense?).
Yeah the lack of tack space in the euro trailers is the biggest pain point for me! No way I can easily fit 5 days of hay, grain, two trunks and gear for two horses the way I can with my basic Exiss. And (as you said) the American double ramp trailers have two almost identical heavy duty ramps vs the smaller front ramp on that Euro style.
I like American style trailers for the storage space, durability, and creature comforts that you really don’t get with the Euros until you go to a horse van. A lot of that does come with weight, but we have the trucks to haul them IF people choose to do so. I priced out a new F150 and a new F350 - for similar trucks as far as the details besides actual towing, the F350 was only $4k more.
That said, I’m considering a EquiTrek whenever I do get a new trailer. Cheaper than a new truck AND trailer, and can be towed by more vehicles in a pinch. There’s good and bad with both styles.
I think there’s just no need to pack equipment and feed for 5 days. I usually don’t drive more than 1-2h away for a competition or training. And if you drive overnight it’s pretty common to have feed supplied. So you only need your tack etc. That’s why there’s no need for big tack space. But there are certainly bigger trailers with much more tack space. The Big Portax for example. (https://www.boeckmann.com/de/anhaenger/pferdeanhaenger/p/portax/big-portax-wcf-21--74516?_gl=11emdr6x_up*MQ…&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwvKtBhDrARIsAJj-kTgSqTHMsmvuSn07PWTjGKxzguHA_jqsj1r_BZ9k4LB9irxTJoGXYz8aAsN5EALw_wcB)
But this trailer will be around 1300kg, so 2800 lbs. So a lot heavier than usual trailers.
Nope. One of the top causes of colic is sudden changes in feed. I do not, and will not ever, go to a show without bringing all of my hay and feed from home.
No way in the world I’m feeding some random hay source I hope i can get at my destination.
Intresting. This is really common here and there’s no trouble with the sudden change. I’m studying agricultural science, so I know about the digestive system. But this is more prone to changes in grain than in hay. But I don’t know how hay is done in the US. In Germany there’s not much range in hay production. (Hay is hay and this is the general rough feed. Some people feed some kind of haylage, which is a bit wetter than hay, but that’s kinda rare and other rough feeds aren’t common.) So as long as it is still hay and it’s not bad due to toxines (mold, yeast, fungus) there’s usually no trouble in feeding different hay. We do feed different hay in the barn all year, cause it’s uncommon to have one field being big enough to provide a whole barn of horses for a whole year. So changes in hay are quite common here. But we do have much lesser land, so our fields are quite small.
I wouldn’t feed different grain. But no problem with different hay. As long as the quality is right.
EDIT TO ADD: And staying overnight isn’t common here. We don’t have much overnight competitions. Most don’t even have stalls or space for this. Kreuth is doing this here in my region. But that’s the only one I know. It’s only the pros that do overnight shows like the FEI World Cups or other championships. But they drive with big trucks. But have never seen them bringing their own hay either. So the people that use the “small” trailers ususually don’t stay anywhere over night. I have done 3 overnight stays in 10 years with my mare. One was a holiday were I of course wasn’t able to bring hay for two horses for one week. And the others were one night, were I had a haynet in the trailer that was enough until we were home the next day. And I drive to shows quite often, like every 2 weeks.
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