Wise Hooves step onto HIT Top Clean mud mats!

In this case study we hear from Ingrid Lewis of Wise Hooves who has proved the benefits of the HIT Top Clean mud mats and impact on her EFL work (equine assisted learning). 

Wise Hooves say: "We’re already seeing the benefits and getting to test how they cope when it won’t stop raining. We love them! Having laid a large amount of another product previously, it was a bit scary to spend so much money on a different product!"

How are the HIT Top Clean mats a game changer for EFL (equine facilitated learning) at Wise Hooves?

What we love:

• The fact they are non-slip is fantastic. Other mats can be very slippery if not constantly re-surfaced, but even in the wet, without a topping, neither horse nor human has slipped on the Jelka mats.
• An EFL client who has a mobility impairment said she thought the mats were great for giving her a safe, flat surface to walk on with the horses.
• They are much easier to lay than other mats and are staying put. (In the photos it looks like we have left quite big gaps between the rows but it’s an optical illusion from the grass peaking up through the narrow gaps!)
• We have been surprised by how well the Jelka HIT Top Clean mats have moulded themselves to the undulations. We couldn’t create a totally flat surface to lay them on because this field has rubble not far under the surface. We couldn’t get into the nightmare of trying to dig it all out. But the mats have shaped themselves to the bumps brilliantly.
• The ground is waterlogged but the mats are not moving at all. We just hear squishing when the horses walk on them!

Installation photo gallery

The photos show:

1: The route from the grazing fields to the yard – this was the mess we ended up with this winter/spring.

2/3/4: Preparing the ground. We had to lay the mats on grass, but we harrowed it heavily to remove some grass and roughen up the soil a bit. And we levelled what we could.

5: Midway through laying the mats.

6: Driving the quad over the mats.

7: Walking Boston the Clydesdale over the mats.

8/9/10: Testing the mats with activities clients will do. The track has two uses – to be a mud-free route from field to yard, and to be a dry, safe place to work with clients in winter when we can’t safely use the field due to mud. In fact we’re so happy with the track we’ll probably choose to use it with clients sometimes even when the fields are not wet.