The BHS opens first Toll Ride in Ireland
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.
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