Alexi Gutierrez (Wellington, Fla.)
Alexi Gutierrez is the founder of IFA (International Farrier Academy), which was started in 2010. I have participated in some of the clinics with him that he organizes in South America in countries such as Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guatemala and in his birthplace, Cuba. One of the experiences that really touched me was when we were in Columbia and a young man came over to thank us for the educational opportunities that he had received in the past clinics and how much it improved his skills, therefore he is a better provider for his family. The first year he showed up on a one cylinder Yamaha motorcycle with an anvil strapped to the back, now he is driving a car. He was so very proud, and his sincerity and gratitude had everybody with tears in their eyes. These clinics truly impact both the farriers and the horses they're working on. It's been one of my favorite experiences in the business!
— Curtis Burns (Wellington, Fla.)
Born in 1971 in Havana and exiled from Cuba to Spain with all family members when Alexi Gutierrez was 8 years old. The Gutierrez family migrated to Florida when he was 10 years old.
Alexi gave up his graphic designer job to get started as farrier apprentice under the command of a veteran racehorse farrier, and a weekly "salary" of one horse hoof rasp. After his apprenticeship, when he was almost 20 years old, he decided to work on equestrian horses in southern Florida area.
I met Alexi in a Caracas, Venezuela, veterinary and farriery meeting in 1997 when Alexi was 26 years old. In my book, he was the farrier that presented the best paper at the meeting related to hoof balance trimming before shoeing the horse.
In 2006, I requested Life Data Labs Alabama sponsorship for him to lecture in equine veterinarians and farriers meetings throughout Mexico, and subsequently Mustad hired him to lecture and do workshops in Mexico and Colombia.
In 2010, he was the founder of International Farrier Academy (IFA). His spirit is to improve the knowledge of equine podiatry of Latin American farriers and travel to as many Latin American countries as possible, because he knows that 99% of Latin American farriers dont have the financial resources to travel to the U.S. to learn at the American farriers international or regional meetings. Alexis has traveled to Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay and his native Cuba representing IFA and taking along pro-bono collaborators from the U.S., U.K. and Mexico.
AFJ published an article on Alexi about two years ago.
Alexi is a household name for his professional and ethical lifetime work to improve the well-being of horses, farriers and equine veterinarians podiatry work in the United States and all Latin American countries already mentioned.
Here are a few of my articles published in "Riendas" magazine in Mexico City.
— Jorge Murga (Del Mar, Calif.)
I have known Alexi Gutierrez for 10 years or so. We were cooperating with Dr. Murga for two or three times in the continuing learning education program: Con-Pacific 2006 (Guadalajara, Jalisco, and Colima, Mexico). Later, Alexi opened his farrier school in Florida and started to travel to a few South American countries and Mexican cities to teach farriers to improve their knowledge in the matter.
Here are photos of Alexi Gutierrez working here in Guadalajara, Jalisco, México.
— José de la Paz Casillas, DVM
