I have both a Dodge Ram 1500 and 2500(my husbands). They are both good trucks. I use the 1500 for our small bumper pull trailer and the 2500 for our larger gooseneck trailer. I love my dodge but I know A LOT of people who have had transmission (mostly automatic transmissions) problems with 2001-2005 model. Both of ours are 2001 and 2002 and are both stick shift (not the funnest to haul with) but I have never had any problems with either one. These trucks are tough! Gas mileage isn't too bad in my 1500 but the 2500 ***** it down especially with a bigger trailer.

A friend of mine also bought a new chevy diesal pickup and she loves it. I havn't heard her complain about gas milage so Im assuming its not that bad.

I absolutely endorse a least a three quarter to one ton truck. I have a Ford 350 auto one ton diesel and wouldn't trade this rig for anything out there. Our next one will be a Ford 450 dually. I believe a lot of people out there are underpowered and under weight with their tow rigs. An accident waiting to happen. I WILL NOT compromise my safety or my horses' safety with a smaller tow rig.

Our one ton is a diesel and gets great mileage….17 MPG with a load and 19MPG without…no problem for it. Remember smaller engines have to work harder and will consume more fuel. Also wear and tear on the frame and engine increases with lesser vehicle weight.

I truly believe "you" cannot cheap out on tow rigs OR on horse trailer construction. As always, you get what you pay for.

Excellent information on trailer and vehicle weights and how to determine what you'll need in a tow rig and trailer to haul safely down the road.

Just about any 1/2 ton truck and bigger are great for pulling trailers. So Dodge 1500, 2500, 3500, Your Dodge 2500 Cummins Diesel will get you best mileage pulling anything. Ford F-150, 250 , 350. Chevy…not a chevy fan, but 1500, 2500, 3500. Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan.

we used a mercedes ML270 to pull our ifor williams trailer I now have a lorry as it is safer!

Anyway here in the UK it is illegal to tow with a car that has a MAM (max authorised mass) less then the MAM of the trailer.
It is also unsafe (although legal) to pull a trailer that weighs more then your car.
The ML270 weighs 2.3 tons and that is all we ever towed with it although it could pull 3.5 tons legally. It does 23 to 25 mpg (british gallon) when pulling!
My lorry is incredible, it has a tiny engine and doesnt seem to use fuel!

A Dodge 1500 would work just fine to tow a 2-horse trailer, but would struggle with something bigger. I think you'd get a safe, capable truck with any of the full-size pickups.

I tow my 2-horse bumper pull with a Chevy Silverado 2500HD. It's way more truck than I need for what I pull, but it's nice! Before that I had a Ford, that was officially a F150, but had many components of a F250 (my dad special ordered it). It pulled fine from when it was new in 1985 until I got my new truck in 2002. But, I needed to fill it with 93 octane gas when towing or it would knock and/or ping when going up big hills. It had two gas tanks so I'd just put 87 in one and 93 in the other.

First, you need to determine the fully loaded weight of your trailer. Second, whatever the brand of truck you choose you need to check the gross combined vehicle weight rating, which will change depending on what different drivetrain components are in the truck you choose. Then you subtract the weight of the truck from that number and it will leave you with the maximum weight you should be hauling or towing. Alot of people exceed this rating in my experience, which will cause wear on the drivetrain sooner or later. So don't just take someones word for it, chevy and ford have detailed towing guides online, dodge also has a general guide.