In a less satisfactory state, with stallion husband gone (5)
I believe the answer is:
worse
'in a less satisfactory state' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'with stallion husband gone' is the wordplay.
'with' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'stallion' becomes 'horse' (I've seen this before).
'husband' becomes 'h'.
'gone' suggests deleting specific letters.
'horse' with 'h' taken away is 'orse'.
'w'+'orse'='WORSE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for worse that I've seen before include "Less favourable" , "Of poorer quality" , "Bad to a greater degree" , "Opposite of better" , "Inferior to another" .)