A Bit on the Side – Margaret Cook

A Bit on the Side is a novel of friendship, lust and betrayal.

In the south of Scotland in the early 90s, five women have unresolved issues with their men. Against the backdrop of the commercial horse-riding world, the women find friendship, as well as jealousy, rivalry and bitchiness. Their relationships with their horses seem easy and therapeutic by comparison.
Megan would like to be the envy of all her friends, with her high-flying, famous, desirable husband. But he’s cheating on her, and all her friends know even though she ignores the evidence under her nose.
Annabel can’t even indulge in prostrate grief for her lost mare, because her dependant husband needs her support after a failed love-affair.
Sue, an ambitious horsewoman, finds her efforts to make a living and a career scuppered by her indolent, obsessively greedy husband.
Stable-owners Mandy and Bridget are locked in an ancient quarrel of such viciousness it is likely to ruin at least one of them.
While riding out their own problems, the ladies watch in gossipy fascination as one of them heads for disaster…