PrintIf you’d happened to turn on the Discovery Channel on Nov. 30, you would’ve seen something very familiar to any horseperson—manure.
That’s right, the TV show “Dirty Jobs” visited the Kentucky Equine Research facility in Versailles, Ky., and spent a day with the staff there.
Research farm manager Jilanne Lange was the main guide for Mike Rowe, the star of “Dirty Jobs,” as he explored different tasks in the research barn. She’s a fan of the show and wasn’t offended at all that her job might be considered a bit less than clean.
“We think it’s kind of dirty, too! But compared to some of the other stuff he does on that show, it’s pretty tame,” Lange said. “It’s more the odor afterwards that makes ours a dirty job, and you can’t really capture that on film!”
Rowe assisted with manure and urine collection and sample preparation, and also with less unsavory jobs such as a treadmill test. Lange, then-intern Catherine Whitehouse and KER veterinarian Bryan Waldridge all participated in Rowe’s adventure.
Rowe gladly joined in for all kinds of tasks, and truly wasn’t afraid to get his hands, well, dirty.
“We just filmed multiple horses as far as changing nappies and collecting poo, and then in the editing they chose which one worked the best. We had three horses in nappies, so we filmed him doing all three,” Lange said. “He did end up spilling urine all over himself once. I was kind of surprised they didn’t put that in there.”
“I’ve been watching the show for years, so I thought it was great they were coming here,” said Waldridge. “One surprise was how nice everybody was—Mike Rowe and the whole crew. They were really fun people. The way they are on the show is really how they were in person. He’s just a nice, normal guy. He goes out of his way to make sure people feel at ease around him.”
A Sense Of Humor Is A Necessity
“Dirty Jobs” is known for its casual and funny approach to the day’s tasks, with Rowe cracking jokes constantly. “He’s pretty much the same in person as you see him on camera. He’s an instigator and a joker,” said Lange.
One of the funniest moments didn’t make it onto the final edit of the episode, according to Lange. At one point, they put the “Dirty Jobs” sound engineer—carrying all of his equipment—on the treadmill and turned it on.
“We quizzed him on horse trivia, and if he got the answer wrong, we turned up the speed on the treadmill,” Lange said. “He actually did pretty well with the answers. We asked questions about Thoroughbred racing like what the average height of a Thoroughbred is, or who won the Kentucky Derby this year. Some weren’t racehorse questions, just general horse questions.
“They seem like they have a lot of fun making the show. They’re always laughing in the background. Working with them was great because they have so much fun together,” continued Lange.
