We went through the same scenario and came out with these requirements and options. Some people will have others but this worked for our requirements.
Vehicle choice for the following requirements:
Four kids-family vacations of lengthy proportions.
Horse competition and camping-most trips less than 4 hours with a few world class tows thrown in.
2 horse steel trailer (2500 pound weight)
Budget constraints
Horse trader mentality that does not pay full retail but requires quality equipment
Vehicle options:
Pickup - no place for kids, not enough interior storage
Suburban - high price even at gently used condition. The market in the SE for SUV's & pickups is so strong they bring a higher price comparatively than any other kind of vehicle.
GMC Full sized van - Turned out to be vehicle of choice for the last five years. This made it the same vehicle chassis, engine, tow as the Suburbans. It has a 7500 tow capacity. The family has room for kids, soccer team, and all the related stuff. There is lots of room for horse equipment. But the real reason for choosing it was that it ran me almost $10,000 dollars less than the comparable Suburban. I bought it gently used, in immaculate condition with 15k miles on it. I was very satisfied with this approach for our circumstance.
Know your trailer weight. Know your equipment weight needs (more than you think for horse camping) and as the other posts have said do not exceed the limits. That 10k has turned out handy for many things other than vehicle costs.
