OK. I'm going to crawl out of my cave and make a comment on this one. For all you "cheaping out", etc. folks out there, get a grip.
If you can trump me, go ahead.
My parents could not wait until I was 16 and could start hauling myself to horse shows. I have been hauling horses since the 60's and have seen every thing in the world used to get the horse to it's destination. I literally have so many miles of hauling under my belt, both local and long distance, I cannot come up with a mileage figure. In all that time, I have personally seen one accident and it was because the wrong ball was used. It was too small and a two piece ball. We have a friend that pulls a 3 horse behind a motor home and he ran off the road when he fell asleep. He told me about that accident. Both accidents were bad, but everyone came out OK.
Sure there are bad accidents out there and if you look it up with todays internet access, you will find that what you are warning about the extended hitch and/or tongue are not the cause of the accidents.
I have pulled with this set up myself behind a truck camper, starting in the 60's when trucks were not half the truck they are today, NO PROBLEMS!!!! I still do that today.
Sure a super hitch is great, but it's not always necessary and I can tell you it works for us. You can't tell me anything about horses shifting weight. I think I know.
If I were going to go bigger than a 2 horse straight load, then I would consider the weight of the trailer, etc. and adjust if needed. Otherwise, I see no issue with this set up. It safely works.
It's sure safer than what I see some you posting that you pull with a half ton. You may come back with "I'm within the ratings" of my truck. Same argument applies here.
