There is, however, one benefit to her horse hobby. I can use it as
leverage when I need a new gadget for the boat.

My wife does the same thing, in reverse. Whenever she decides she wants
something in the "talk about it first" category, she merely calculates the
number of "moorage months" involved in her prospective purchase. Darn, she's
shrewd.

In fact she's very shrewd. I love dogs, but I have a cat instead. My wife
*hates* dogs. She has said, "It's me, or a dog." I tease her that when I come
home with a dog, she'll know its time to pack her stuff...(more likely she'd
pack mine.)

She's smart enough to know that she doesn't want to present, "It's me or the
boat." There are some things, like a dog, that a guy could live without.....