Could you bear to share your horse with someone else?

This is the prospect that faces me at the moment.

It was partly the problem with the gas boiler that made me consider it. The old one gave up the ghost and was condemned by British Gas.

The new one cost nearly £3000. So looking round for ways to recoup the money, the obvious monthly outgoing to save on is stable and feed bills.

So it's partly about money. A sharer would mean I would only pay half the bills.

But it's also about the hard grind of looking after a horse day after day, week after week. Constant mucking out before or after full time work, takes a toll on your energy levels.

But can I do it? Someone once said that sharing your horse is like sharing your husband. All that time building up bonds, doing things your way and in your style. You are a pair, you and your horse, can you bear to see someone else taking your place?

It may not be ideal, but practically speaking, it may be inevitable at some point. If the choice is between sharing, or no horse at all, then sharing it will be. But with a sharer chosen with care. And with the ground rules clearly spelt out.