Perry - In this edition of Take This Job and Love It, Chelsey Anderson traveled Downeast to help a nonprofit.

She visited the First Light Farm Equine Shelter in Perry.

Chelsey: "I rode a horse at a fair when I was child, but that's about the extent of my knowledge of horses. Thankfully, the ladies at the farm were more than willing to show me the ropes."

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"Yes babe. We've got to bring you some hay, huh?" Chelsey: "Hi! She's like, 'Where's my food?' We're getting it!"

(Andrea:) "We're going up to the hay loft."

(Chelsey:) "Heads up!"

(Chelsey:) "Mariah! Look, look at the hay." Andrea: "No, she says she's going to eat Zippy's." Chelsey: "Zippy's looks pretty good!"

I fill her water and I'm on to the next task.

(Andrea:) "The best part is mucking out. We'll muck out our paddock, our run in sheds and the stalls."

(Vicky:) "We're going to clean a stall." Vicky: "And I left her some special frozen stuff!" Chelsey: Thank you!

(Andrea:) "You can start with just picking up off the surface." Chelsey: "Okay." Andrea: "She's made a bit of a mess."

(Andrea:) "Just give it a little shake. You want to shake out your shaving over an area you're not going to be shaking again." Chelsey: "Oh, that's a good idea."

I banged some of the shavings out to get the remaining mess, but I wasn't going quite fast enough. So, the self-proclaimed Barn Goddess took over and I moved on to churn-in some new pine shavings in Zippy's stall.

(Chelsey:) "Okay. One stall down."

Moving on to Delia's paddock.

(Andrea:) "I first start trying to rake it into a pile."

(Chelsey:) "Delia, I love you girl, but I don't love the presents."

Then I filled the muck buckets.

(Chelsey:) "And that's a lot of poo to deal with."

(Andrea:) "I hope they pay you well for this feature!"

(Chelsey:) "Another one." Vicky: "You're not done yet!"

(Chelsey:) "Well, I think they're definitely eating enough."

(Andrea:) "That's probably as full as we're going to be able to get." Chelsey: "Okay."

(Andrea:) "Now you'll get the wheel barrel and dump that one too."

(Chelsey:) "Oh! I'm going to go up this little bridge. Oh my goodness."

(Andrea:) "You've got to get a running start."

(Chelsey:) "Okay!" (grunting) Andrea: "There you go! Alright!"

Now that Delia's paddock was clean, it was time to get her groomed.

(Andrea:) "The first thing that happens is we have to clean out her feet."

(Andrea:) "You're going to run your hand down, and she knows what I'm going to be doing so she's going to pick up her foot for me."

It didn't work that way for me.

(Chelsey:) "Come on! You can do it!"

(Chelsey:) "Err!" Andrea: "Delia!" Chelsey: "Come on! Are we friends? I thought we were friends!"

Well, the talk must have helped.

(Chelsey:) "Come on! Yes!"

I cleaned that foot up and moved to the back, which wasn't any easier.

(Andrea:) "Do it real quick!" Chelsey: "Errr!" (laughter)

(Andrea:) "And we're going to give her a quick grooming."

I removed the dirt and dander from Delia's coat, then shined her up.

(Andrea:) "She is definitely enjoying this."

I topped off the grooming with a treat.

(Chelsey:) "Ah, yeah! Yummy!"

So after all the feeding, scooping, and brushing, would I get the job?

(Andrea:) "Absolutely, because it's not about knowledge, it's about having the heart and compassion to do it."

(Chelsey:) "Thank you so much, and thank you so much. You were very friendly."

Before I left, I was presented with a major award.

(Andrea:) "We don't hand these out to just anybody, but anyone who's gone above and beyond the call of duty."

For climbing Mt. Manure.

Whoo!

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On Sunday the 13th, the New Friendly Restaurant on Route 1 in Perry will give 10% of their proceeds to Have a Heart for Horses to help the shelter.

If you have an idea for our next Take This Job and Love It, email Chelsey: canderson@wabi.tv.

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