Henrietta Knight, internationally renowned racehorse trainer, opened Ireland's first Toll Ride at The British Horse Society Ireland and The Countryside Access and Activities Network's (CAAN) official launch for The Grey Abbey Estates 6.5km Equestrian Toll in County Down on 1 March. Working in partnership with CAAN and the BHS Ireland, Heather Hoffman, Northern Ireland's Off Road Horse Riding Development Officer, said: "As the volume of traffic increases, our roads are becoming too dangerous to ride on safely. We desperately need somewhere off-road to ride. "We are very grateful to the Montgomery family for allowing access to their private estate. And we must say a big thank you to Ards Borough Council who backed the project along with East Border Region Partnership INTEREGG IIIa funding." Susan Irwin, BHS Ireland's Development Officer, said: "It has taken a lot of work over the past two years to get this trail off the ground, from the initial concept to the actual trail design and finally getting all the funding in place. "We are very pleased that we can now offer a safe place for our members to ride. This is Ireland's first BHS Toll Ride and we hope the first of many to come. We've already received interest from several other private estates so it's all looking very positive." The trail will open annually from March 1 to October 1 inclusive. However it will close every winter for the shooting season for health and safety reasons. It will be open seven days a week, closing only for Sunday mornings.