jk,

GN vs. BP is a very personal preference.  GN tend to pull better and put weight in the bed of your truck.  Installing a GN hitch can be pricey so make sure you are keeping the truck for awhile.  Of course, as the previous poster noted, you have a much harder time finding someone to pull a GN for you if your truck is incompacitated. That, though, can actually be a good thing because it also means fewer people will ask to borrow your trailer.  Of course on the humerous side of it, my ex-wife insisted on keeping our old GN and I kept the truck.  That trailer has not moved in 2 years as she doesn't have a truck to pull it with.  I, on the other hand, was able to find a used GN without a problem. 

As to a specific brand, you just need to pound the pavement and look at a LOT of them!! Depending on what kind of horses you have stall width can be an issue is a SL.  I have a draft cross and found that finding a stall width to accomadate him was a problem.  The stall width can vary depending on the overall trailer width.  A 6'8" width trailer is not going to have as wide a stall as a 7' or 8' wide trailer.  DO NOT be confused by the stall widths advertised by the various manufactureres.  Most measure from head post to head post which can be decieving as a trailer advertised with a 42" stall width may only have 37" of "usable" stall width. 

Again, go out and pound the pavement. Climb in and out of each trailer, jump up and down in it, load your horse (if you can find a dealer willing to let you).  Look at all of your friends trailers and decide what you like and don't like about each.  RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH.  Check out the trailers for sale here on HTW and see which carry higher resale values as that might tell you something. 

Anyway, just some thoughts for you.  I am getting ready to buy a new Merhow if tha says anything. 

Take care and good luck.

   Find you a slightly used, all aluminum 3 horse gooseneck, with a 6-10 foot short wall dressing room. It will pull alot better than a bumper pull and you'll have enough room for all your tack and plenty room to strech out for sleeping, camping, etc. Your 2500 with the 8.1 will pull in just fine.

   There's 1163, three horse, gooseneck trailers on HTW as we speak!! Shop around for a used trailer unless you got alot of extra money that's burning a hole in your pocket!!!

 OP... I pull a Cherokee Super Chief 6 horse head to head with a 2001 3500, ext. cab, long bed, 4x4, Chevrolet dually, 8.1/Allison with 4.10 gears..... That's why I said you got plenty truck for a 3h, gn, 10' sw...

At the end of this month and the beginning of April, is the Equine Affair at Columbus OH. They usually have many trailer dealers and many examples of different brands. I don't know where in PA you live, but from us it is a three hour drive.

When we shopped for out fist GN, we went to Quarter Horse Congress, usually sometime in OCT.

These shows are the easiest way of seeing a wide assortment of trailers. You can compare manufacturer to manufacturer, feature to feature, almost side by side. By the end of the day, we had entered  and inspected so many trailers, that I became unable to continue. We learned a great deal, and can still use that experience, when sizing up the value of any trailer we look at.

Too many people buy because of interior comforts and first impressions. It's only by inspecting the construction details and build quality, that you can determine which trailer is better built, longer lasting and better able to hold its value.

These venues are an ideal way, in which you can gain valuable experience in a relatively short period of time. Also at the shows, many people will bring their used equipment for sale. They will park in the public areas with a sign and phone #. You call, ask for specifics, and can usually meet in a few minutes.

 One spot, many opportunities. It's a good value.

Gard 

Gard is right.  Quater Horse congress and Equine affair,  both in Columbus Ohio are the best venues for horse trailer shopping.  But it can be overwhelming.  Start a notebook and organize everthing you liked and disliked in a trailer.  And as Gard mentioned,  don't be impressesed with the gadgets.  The first think you should do when looking at a trailer is lay on the ground and look at the spacing and size of the floor beams.  Pick a couple manufactures that you like with good strong structural support and then narrow it down by ameneties that are important to you and price.  Because there are so many manufactures it can be overwhelming but a lot of fun too!  I shopped for about 2 years before I bought my 3 horse with a 6ft LQ.

Take your camera with you and take alot of pictures of what you really like..... There's no way you'll remember it all at the end of the day.

Farmbabe is tellin' it straight.  Pretty good for a yankee!  hee hee

Seriously, read that post about 4 times, she is right on the whole principle.