I've just purchased a 2000 Trails West Sierra 3 horse gooseneck trailer with a side tack and a dressing room in the gooseneck (no living quarter). It's about 19' 7" floor length with a 7' gooseneck. According to the brochure I have, the weight would be around 6100#.

Now I'm wondering whether my truck has enough power to pull this trailer safely--that's a priority for me! If I haul my 1200# horse, that puts the weight at 7300#.  If I haul 2 horses, it would add another 1000#. 

I have a '98 3/4 ton 4WD GMC Sierra V8. It's a 7.4 L with a 454 Vortec engine. The manual says with a 3.73 axle ratio, the max trailer wt. is 8500# (with a 4.10 axle ratio, the max trailer wt is 10,500# and that's for fifth wheel hitch rate). I don't know what my trucks axle ratio is--I'm not even sure what that means!  

Would pulling  2 horses put me close to my weight limit (I'm going by the 8500# limit). Would hauling 3 horses be out of the question as far as safety and wear on the truck is concerned? 

I'm wondering if I will need to upgrade my truck to a 1 Ton if I ever plan to haul 3 horses or to just be over trucked when I haul 2 horses.  I live in Oregon and we will be having to ocasionally haul up mountain roads.  I'd appreciate anyone's input on this!  Thanks....

I haul a 3H GN/LQ with a 3/4 ton Ford. I haul 1-2 horses but have hauled three. You'll be fine.

thanks. i just want to be sure i'm not overloading my suspension or putting too much weight on the hitch (see post a few lines up re:POLL:GMC w/8.1 ) I guess I'll see how it does when I pick up my (new) trailer this weekend--I'm getting a turnover ball installed in my truck this week (we upgraded from a 2H bumper pull).

Can't wait to load up the horse(s) and see how they like it!