0:00:24 > 0:00:25The Thames Valley.
0:00:25 > 0:00:30A green and pleasant land running alongside our most historic river.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33I'm in the pretty riverside town of Henley-on-Thames,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36a place that is intrinsically linked to the river.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42This is the spiritual home of rowing
0:00:42 > 0:00:46and its roots can be traced back to the early 1800s when the first
0:00:46 > 0:00:50University Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge was held here.
0:00:52 > 0:00:53Every summer, for one week,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57Henley holds its world-famous Regatta, transforming this
0:00:57 > 0:00:59tranquil part of the Thames
0:00:59 > 0:01:01into one of our most-loved sporting events.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05But what makes this place the cradle of rowing?
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Well, to find out, I am taking to the water with a man who
0:01:10 > 0:01:14knows this stretch more than most. Sir Matthew Pinsent, good morning.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Sir Matthew Pinsent is one of our most successful Olympians.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21He has won four gold medals at successive Olympic Games,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25along with 16 wins here at Henley Royal Regatta.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29And most of his training was done on this stretch of water.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32So, Matthew, this is a place that you know very, very well.
0:01:32 > 0:01:38Yes, it's probably the bit of river I spent most of my life on.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40This is the Regatta course.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42The finish line is just here
0:01:42 > 0:01:45and the start line is way, way down in the distance.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49You can see what we call the Temple. That's the start down there.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53And you'll see, just as we sweep around, one of the few places on
0:01:53 > 0:01:56the whole of the stretch of the Thames where it runs straight
0:01:56 > 0:01:59as far as the eye can see. Which is why the Regatta is here.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04175 years ago, when the Regatta first started, to have an
0:02:04 > 0:02:08almost dead-straight course on a natural river was a rarity.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11It provided the perfect setting for racing and spectating
0:02:11 > 0:02:13and it still does today.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15People will come down with their boats
0:02:15 > 0:02:17and moor up on the booms here.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21So, just here, you will get a real atmosphere which, actually,
0:02:21 > 0:02:24- even an Olympics won't match. Because...- Really?
0:02:24 > 0:02:29Well, they're there. At an Olympics, the crowd is 100 metres away.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31How does the competition kind of play out, then, over the week?
0:02:31 > 0:02:35- Who is here?- You will have some of the best rowers, men and women,
0:02:35 > 0:02:36in the world come to the Regatta.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41I remember coming here as a schoolboy. We sort of started a race
0:02:41 > 0:02:44and the race ahead of us was the Olympic champions.
0:02:44 > 0:02:45And you think, "Look at them.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49"That is so-and-so." And, you know, that's magical.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52People have been racing for the trophy that you want to win
0:02:52 > 0:02:54at Henley for 175 years.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Even the Olympics doesn't have the history that this place does.
0:02:58 > 0:02:59So it is very, very unique.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05Preparations for the July Regatta are already underway.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10Today it is a slick-run event but, as chairman Mike Sweeney knows,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13that wasn't always the case.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15In the early days, when it started,
0:03:15 > 0:03:20the river was absolutely covered in boats - punts, gigs, any sort.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22You could literally walk from one side to the other.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26And at the start they fired a cannon.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29And the theory was that everybody moved out of the way to allow
0:03:29 > 0:03:31the racing crews to come through.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35Well, it didn't always actually happen 100%, so occasionally
0:03:35 > 0:03:39collisions between punts and racing boats was the order of the day.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44- So, Mike, when was the first Henley Regatta?- 1839.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47It was ten years after the first Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and it was that race that had given the townspeople the idea,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52"Actually, this is good for the town.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54"It brings business, it brings people."
0:03:54 > 0:04:00It was one day, and the winners were First Trinity Cambridge.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03And then the next year it got, what, more days and more days?
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Yeah, it's now five days and has been for the last 30 years.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09So, apart from offering young rowers like we have got here
0:04:09 > 0:04:12the opportunity to row alongside Olympians,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14what other support do your offer your rowers?
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Well, in 1988, we started the Charitable Trust
0:04:18 > 0:04:20and since then we have given away over £3 million to
0:04:20 > 0:04:23junior development, youth development,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25getting kids out in boats all over the country
0:04:25 > 0:04:29- and it has been very, very successful.- I'll bet.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41There could be well over a million horses in the UK.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44No-one knows the exact figure, and until recently there has been
0:04:44 > 0:04:47no national project to keep check on their general health.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52But the Blue Cross animal charity is changing that.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56It's launched a one-week long, UK-wide annual survey to try to
0:04:56 > 0:05:02paint a picture of just how fit or unfit the nation's horses really are.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Blue Cross came to prominence during the First World War,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09caring for horses and working dogs injured on the battlefields.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12The "blue" distinguished it from the Red Cross which, of course,
0:05:12 > 0:05:14cared for wounded soldiers.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Today, it still has the health of horses at its very core.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22This is the fifth equine survey it has carried out
0:05:22 > 0:05:24and it is by far the biggest.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27So, what do you already know about Britain's horses?
0:05:27 > 0:05:29What we have found out is really important.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Three quarters of all horses have something wrong with them
0:05:32 > 0:05:34and so we want to get a much bigger picture of that
0:05:34 > 0:05:36and drill down into those figures
0:05:36 > 0:05:39and find out what actually is affecting the horses in Britain.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40That is a staggering fact, isn't it,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43that three-quarters of all horses have something wrong?
0:05:43 > 0:05:44What kind of things?
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Well, the commonest things we have found
0:05:46 > 0:05:50are about 15% have skin conditions, about 13% are lame.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53So, that sort of information, if we can find out more about it,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55will then help to inform vets and farriers and
0:05:55 > 0:05:58pharmaceutical companies, really, and charities like the Blue Cross
0:05:58 > 0:06:01about what advice they say should be giving to horse owners.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05Students at the Berkshire College of Agriculture are carrying out
0:06:05 > 0:06:09the horse survey as part of their course in equine health.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12So, tell me, Sarah, what exactly are you having to do?
0:06:12 > 0:06:13So, we will start on the head,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16look at their teeth, make sure they're in good condition
0:06:16 > 0:06:17then we will look at their nose.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22So they have got a nice, clean nose, bright, shiny eyes,
0:06:22 > 0:06:23nice and alert ears.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27Then we will move down to look at their feet and their hooves,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29make sure there is no lameness or anything.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- Well, this mare looks in perfect condition to me.- She is.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36However, when we were grooming her, we found some lumps on her skin
0:06:36 > 0:06:39that you can just feel up here, which aren't normal.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41There are lumps all over her, aren't there?
0:06:41 > 0:06:43So, what are you going to do about that?
0:06:43 > 0:06:45We'll report it to a skin specialist and have them
0:06:45 > 0:06:47come out and have a look at her.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49- Hopefully it's not serious. - Hopefully.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Though it's largely a countryside survey,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55you have to head into the capital to discover why a great
0:06:55 > 0:06:58British institution is taking part for the first time.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05These are just some of the horses of the Household Cavalry, returning from
0:07:05 > 0:07:09ceremonial duties to the regiment's barracks here in Central London.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12At the moment, there are 240 horses here
0:07:12 > 0:07:16and the regiment itself is the most senior in the British Army.
0:07:17 > 0:07:18It has played a key role
0:07:18 > 0:07:21in Britain's state and military heritage,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23always on duty at great occasions
0:07:23 > 0:07:26and one of the top tourist attractions of London.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29The wellbeing of its fine horses is crucial
0:07:29 > 0:07:32and Blue Cross is here to help with the survey.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Andy, your horse is getting the once-over now from the Blue Cross.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40- What sort of a horse is he? - He's a three-quarter Irish Draught.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42The reason we get the Irish Draught horses is
0:07:42 > 0:07:45because we need the right temperament for the horses
0:07:45 > 0:07:48within London and also the size and the weight he has to carry.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51He is carrying about four stone of equipment on him,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55also possibly 16 or 17 stone of soldier as well.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57- So he needs to be big and strong. - That's right, John, yes, he does.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00The last 12 months or so have been very busy, haven't they,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03with, you know, the Jubilee, the Olympics and everything else?
0:08:03 > 0:08:04That's right. Really busy.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08So it's vital that all the horses here are fit all the time.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Fit, healthy and well looked after.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13And they couldn't be in better hands.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Regimental vet Major Ann O'Flynn keeps a close eye on them.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20- We've got a casualty here, then, Ann.- Yes, this is Vainglory.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Unfortunately he slipped over this morning in rehearsals.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25That's a nasty gash on his knee.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Yeah. I am just going to give it a quick cleanup.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Is this quite a common occurrence?
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Well, this is pretty run-of-the-mill for us.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Horses that are going out in groups of anything from 10 to 200,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38we see a few cuts, kicks, grazes, bumps and that sort of thing.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40So, when will he be back on parade, then?
0:08:40 > 0:08:43We're hoping back on the next parade we do.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47And with so many horses here, your big worry must be
0:08:47 > 0:08:51if some infection or disease gets in and sweeps through.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Yes, that's right, we've got a herd of 550 horses in the Army
0:08:54 > 0:08:57so we have horses living in such close proximity to each other
0:08:57 > 0:08:59and so many in one place that, yeah,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02things that can spread from horse to horse are a key concern for us.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05These aren't ordinary horses, are they? If anything happened,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08it would, you know, be a long time before they could be replaced.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Yes, there is a training pipeline.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13These horses will spend 18 months to two years in training,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15so if we do lose one through injury or sickness,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18we have got to look quite hard for a replacement.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22'With the survey nearly complete, how has the regiment fared?'
0:09:22 > 0:09:25- So, just about the last one now, Gemma.- Yes.- How has it gone?
0:09:25 > 0:09:28- It's gone really well, yes. - Are they fit?
0:09:28 > 0:09:31They are in really tiptop condition.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33'Good news for the Household Cavalry.'
0:09:33 > 0:09:35And the full results of the national survey
0:09:35 > 0:09:37will be published later this year.