Long before modern veterinary medicine, the village blacksmith was the horse’s doctor. Eli Hernandez hasn’t forgotten that. Working out of Billings, Eli runs Heart Bar Equine Podiatry, a mobile practice built on the belief that traditional blacksmithing and farriery techniques aren’t relics – they are living tools, as relevant to a horse’s health today as they were a century ago. As both an AFA Certified Farrier and a veterinarian, he moves fluidly between the forge and diagnostics, shaping therapeutic shoes by hand the same way craftsmen have for generations. That hands-on mastery is something he actively cultivates: Eli competes in blacksmithing through the World Championship Blacksmiths organization, where the demands of competition push traditional forging skills to their highest level. Before his professional career with horses, Eli served twelve years in the United States Navy as an intelligence analyst, separating as a Chief Petty Officer.
