Long days working under horses that weigh more than 1,000 pounds take a toll on a farrier’s body.

A farrier for more than 30 years, Mitch Shelhamer knows this all-too-well.

“As I got older, I was starting to have some problems with my hips and was told by my doctor that I should consider changing professions,” says the Basin, Wyo., farrier.

Shelhamer works with pleasure, ranch, performance and draft horses within a 100-mile radius in the Big Horn Basin. At 58 years old, he provides hoof care for 315 horses a year on an 8-week rotation without an assistant.

“That’s a lot of horses for a guy my age,” he says. “Most younger farriers don’t shoe that many horses. I was facing a double knee replacement and my left hip as well.”

Surgery wasn’t an option for the third-generation farrier. He loves what he does — it’s in his blood.

“I decided that there had to be a better way,” he says.

Life-Changing Direction

Fortunately for Shelhamer, his wife Suzi pointed him in a life-changing direction by introducing him to yoga. Suzi has been doing yoga for 5 years and teaching in their home studio for 3.

“He is my best and most…