The American Farrier’s Association (AFA) conducted a horseshoeing certification Sept. 4-5, 2025, in Pereira, Colombia.
Organized by Dr. Edward Daniel Calle, CJF (TE), this was the first AFA Farrier Certification held in Colombia since 2015. The success of the candidates was a testament to the dedication of the participants and the instructors who have worked tirelessly to bring farrier education to Colombia in the last 10 years.
In much of Latin America, hoof care and farriery are trades that are passed by word of mouth from generation to generation with minimal structure and no established standard of care. These are also countries with large numbers of working equids that depend on their feet. Colombia is aiming to set the bar for Latin American farrier education.
Dedicated Instructors Elevating Education
The dream to establish farrier training and education in Colombia began with Dr. Calle and Ivan Gomez, CJF (TE). Dr. Calle completed farrier training in Spain while Gomez attended farrier school in the United States. Both returned to Colombia to start the first two farrier programs in Colombia in the early 2000s. With the help of Steve Sermerschein, CJF (TE), AWCF, these programs began to grow. Since then, a few other schools have been established. Dr. Jorge Sanchez, CJF (FE) began teaching in 2019 and recently established a program dedicated to learning forging techniques. All three farriers have sought the highest levels of farrier education available through the AFA. This has enabled them to excel as instructors in Colombia.
What it Takes to Teach
The AFA has a five-tier certification system in which participants achieve a qualification like “Certified Farrier” or “Certified Journeyman Farrier” based on the degree of difficulty of their examination. Each examination has three parts: written (anatomy, physiology and pathology), blacksmithing demonstration (shoe modification or creation) and a live horse demonstration. The examination system is well-established and widespread in the United States and Canada. AFA certification has received a lot of interest in Latin America in recent years. This recent Colombian certification not only had participants from Colombia, but several others traveled from Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Chile, showing the potential for the growth of the project in those countries.
AFA Farrier Certification is difficult, and success requires resilience and determination. All these Colombian instructors have been able to cultivate a mentality of dedication and hard work in their students over the years as they have worked for this 2025 certification.
At this certification, Colombia had some of the highest passing rates the AFA has recorded. Those who passed did so with high scores on the written exam and impressive demonstrations of practical ability.
AFA Supporting Farrier Education in Latin America
The AFA’s International Outreach Committee (IOC) is different than many traditional development projects in that it seeks to train an existing population of farriers to a higher standard to expand the network of trained farriers. The IOC focuses on education and creating a self-sustaining, multiplying effect rather than providing one-time trimming services. The Colombia project is a perfect example of how training educators creates a lasting effect for people and horses in a country or region. Based on a small survey done at this certification, a full-time Colombian farrier travels anywhere from 10-50-plus km from their home and maintains between 100-250 horses per year on a recurring schedule in their practice. We have projects in Mexico, Colombia and Cuba that we are looking to support. Funds are invested in the American Farrier’s Association Foundation to sustain support for these projects for years to come.
For information on this project and information on how to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit the American Farriers Foundation’s website.
