Hello Francesca,
Have you considered the possibility that the husband continued to work at his printer/compositer trade while his wife ran the pub, even though he was nominally the Licensee. I know of several similar such instances in my own Graty family. This could be a reason why, if his wife died in 1904, he gave up the pub in 1905.
As regards the stabling I have looked at the 1881 and 1891 Censuses and it would seem that the stables were in the yard behind the pub. Perhaps the Widower felt he could continue running these as a separate business, especially if he was employing an Ostler to do the actual work.
Just a couple of suggestions.
Regards, Alastair