Peter Hedger runs two businesses from his Eastmere stables at Eastergate, near Fontwell. One makes money, the other doesn't.

The loss-making job is the training of his mixed yard of 16 horses, heavily subsidised by his seven-lorry horse transport business, serving trainers and studs all over Sussex.

He said: "As long as I can ride out in the morning and lead my small string up to gallops, I'll continue training because I love it. But if it wasn't for the lorries I couldn't do it."

The problem with the transport business is finding reliable drivers and over the winter Hedger is going to cut down to just five horseboxes.

Apart from his wife Laura, the linch-pin of Eastmere stables is Lidija (pronounced Lydia - the name is Latvian) Angell who has been with Hedger on and off for 14 years.

As head girl Lidija has four staff to run the yard when Hedger is away which is more often than not.

She said: "I live only five minutes away and get up at 5.15am to give the horses their feed. I'm used to it winter and summer so it's no problem.

"The horses get four feeds a day but Peter does the evening one himself unless he's away then I do that as well."

Lidija, originally from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, left school at 15 obsessed with horses. Her early working years were spent in a polo yard in Hertfordshire before she joined the National Hunt yard of Katie Gaze in Ross-on-Wye.

At 17 she was riding steeplechasers at exercise before she moved south to Sussex to Lord Cowdray's polo stables at Midhurst.

"I did five years there and enjoyed it but the sad side of the polo scene is that to keep the ponies sound in a very tough environment they have so much medication," she said.

"I really hated that so around 1990 I moved back towards racing and began to ride out three times a week for Peter Hedger.

"You can't run race horses unless they are fundamentally sound without dope and before long I was full time at Eastmere."

One of Lidija's favourite horses is Mission To Mars, a four-year-old who has now won twice and gave his owner, Ian Hutchins his first winner after several blank seasons.

Mission To Mars is due to run at Lingfield on Sunday and Lidija is hopeful of another success.

She said: "We always take the horses we look after to the races ourselves and there are several others who should do well for me such as King Darshaan, Kildare Chiller, Gathering Storm and a lovely two-year-old filly, I'mtouchingwood who will have one run on turf, at Nottingham next Thursday, before the season ends."

Lidija has never ridden racing, although Hedger describes her as "brave as a lion, she will ride anything", because she reckons she has been too busy with routine jobs.

"I do the clipping and even drive the non-HGV lorries so I haven't had the opportunity," she said.

The thought of training in her own right does not appeal.

"It had crossed my mind but there is too much hassle, too much bureaucracy and it isn't easy to make it pay."

Lidija supervises the loading of six or seven horses into the lorries.

She explained: "We do most of our training on John Dunlop's gallops at Arundel, although sometimes we take the horses up to the woods behind Goodwood Racecourse and occasionally to Lady Herries' gallops at Angmering."

Of the lads and girls in the yard, 21-year-old Emma Kemp is the most likely to become a jockey.

Lidija said: "She loves jumping and is a very good schooling rider. She hopes to have a jockey's licence before long and I think she will do well."

Like all trainers of jumpers at present Hedger is hoping for some rain to ease the ground but in the meantime Mission To Mars will keep the flag flying on the polytrack at Lingfield.