towing with rav4

I'd say don't. You are really looking at the same old tried and trusteds - Discovery, Shogun, Trooper and Fourtrak. A Freelander recently went over on the M6 with just a 12.2 pony in an Ifor 505R. Don't know the full story but the weight ratio must have been acceptable. I see Freelander in the 'others to consider' list under the review. Don't risk your horse. I'd consider a Fourtrak as an 'also'. If you can get hold of one, they are fantastic towcars, not too basic and very reliable IME.

Good luck and please get something that is designed for the job.
 
The towing weight (or train weight on the vehicle plate) will tell you what the maximum is that you can tow. I don't know the weight of the average trailer but I guess you can find out, add the weight of your horse to that and you could be approaching your 1 1/2 tonnes figure. Now compare that to the weight of the car which is also about 1 1/2 tonnes.

If something was to go wrong with the trailer, a sharp turn at speed, brakes overheating and failing downhill, for example...because your trailer will effectively weigh as much as your car it will have a very big influence over the towing vehicle.

Which is why I said it might work in theory. In practice I have to say I wouldn't entertain it. My preference would be for a bigger 4wd, Isuzu, Land Rover, Shogun, Nissan Patrol, etc simply because they are heavier towing vehicles and much more stable..better still if they are long wheelbase.
 
Sorry, I meant Patrol! I think we need a 'sticky' of suitable towcars!
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Many of us have gone down the route of trying to find an economical way of towing our trailers & horses to shows. We consider Freelander , Rav 4, Suzuki & various of the smaller 4x4. At the end of the day when you are towing a trailer that can be anything betwen 860kg & 1100kg depending on make & model & you add the weight of at least one horse being i.e. 550kg, plus tack & everything else you start to realise that you have to look to the larger 4x4. They aren't cheap to run or maintain but you really will need Discovery, Range Rover, Defender, Shogun etc to tow safely.
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Don't do it....far too dangerous. As everyone else has said, the smaller 4x4 are not suitable for towing a live load, even if they weights look ok on paper!
 
Thanks for all your advise! Its so hard when you dont know much about it and the car manufacturers say its ok on paper!
 
you have to look at the maximum loaded weight of your trailer. you cant just say oh my trailer only weights 600kg and horse is only 500kg so it will be fine. the car has to be capable of towing the trailer's maximum weight, whether you fully load it or not. hence a rav4 is not a suitable car for towing.
 
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