Meet Lydia & Sergio Gutierrez of Double G Farrier Services LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lydia & Sergio Gutierrez.

Hi Lydia & Sergio, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My husband Sergio & I met at Midwest Horseshoeing School in Divernon, IL in July 2016 – the rest was history.

We came from very different backgrounds, I (Lydia) was originally from upstate New York & had been living in Arizona for the past 3.5yrs. Always in agriculture, horse farms and dairy farms alike, moving to AZ I went to training horses and starting colts, then cowboying near Bagdad, AZ on the Santa Maria river for 3 years. It was this cowboy job that made the decision I needed to learn how to shoe my own string of horses instead of bribing the other hands to shoe them for me (laundry & baked goods goes along ways!) it was the only way I could hope to get another ranch job as a girl at the time. *(This is the job where I acquired Samson our Bordecollie Catahoula mutt, he was a cow dog with me for a few years turned farrier terrier and is a hit with our clients!)*
Through shoeing school I was still bound and determined to make my living on a horse and not under one, but I suppose coming from a family of 3 generations of farriers the choice was inevitably made. Serg & I met as he had decided to stay a couple extra weeks before heading back to Colombia, we dated a whopping two weeks before being long distance for 7months and getting married the beginning of March 2017. We’ve been running our farrier business together since then.

Sergio was born and raised in Bucaramanga, Colombia where his dad raised and showed Colombian Paso Finos horses and Brahman cattle. He went on to vet school and graduated with the degree in Colombia to be a practicing veterinarian, but the passion wasn’t there so he began shadowing a therapeutic farrier making the leap to go to school & become a farrier. A 6mo course in Illinois with Diego Almeida CJF, AWCF started him on his path & allowed us to meet in the most unlikely way.

After we got married & moved back to Arizona together, where I had already established connections, we worked for a local farrier who helped us get our business started. We were young, dumb, and very broke lol I think a little desperation is what forced us into building a solid farrier business. For several years it was all about keeping our head above water and taking on what odd jobs we needed to keep going.
When you get out of farrier school you think you’ve got it all figured out, but in reality you suck at your job for a few years and get the horses no one else wants to shoe, you pay your dues, everyone does.

We have an interesting story, but are by no means the best in the business, that title belongs to the guys that have been doing this for decades and the up and comers that are going to dominate the field. We have however in recent years stepped up our game and got certified through the American Farriers Association, both of us hold the title of Certified Farrier(CF) and we both started the next certification which is the Certified Journeyman Farrier(CJF). To be judged by your peers through certification and competition, along with attending clinics is the only way to excel and grow in this very isolating career.
We love to see the progress in the horses and hooves we work with, along with all the cool people we get to meet.
We pride ourselves in running a great business with good communication, this is uncommon in the industry as the people side is generally more difficult than the 1000lb animals we’re trained to handle.
At this stage in the game we’re happy to be able to take on good horses and clients, able to turn away those that don’t fit our vision for the business. As a farrier the only way to extend an already physically strenuous career is to take on horses that stand well for their feet and to not take clients that don’t appreciate good work or understand their part in training the horses.

We’re 8 years into our career and are finally feeling the momentum of sticking with it and working at getting better, meeting more awesome farriers along the way. The fun part of the job is knowing you will never know it all, it keeps it challenging!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t think there is a single business owner that would tell you it’s been a smooth road, if they do they’re probably lying haha

We started with nothing and built a good clientele base, through other farriers overflow, and the persistence to keep coming back without a lot of guidance, just muddling through on our own for quite a few years.

It took a lot of mistakes and a lot of patience from some of our first clients that allowed us to struggle along as we learned through doing. I remember the very first stop we had with shoes, was in Wittman where we managed to schedule these poor unsuspecting ladies. Showed up to hot shoe without a lighter for our forge or bucket for water to cool the shoes, they kindly supplied both. It was short a disaster and very stressful for us, yet to our surprise they rescheduled and kept us until they moved several years later!
We’ve had a two hour half set, because of how rank the horse was & we were dumb enough to go back again. Many donkeys through the years that we had to tie legs up on to keep from getting kicked… enough of those experiences and now no donkeys or mules are allowed on the books (unless they’re mini, those are just to cute to say no to)
I also remember one of the first people to call us, had called and asked to schedule while I was out day-working the ranch, riding a horse with no foresight to take a note. The appointment came and we missed it, loosing a much needed client at the time – a hard lesson learned, there is now a strict system in place to make sure that only happened once!

Learning to effectively communicate and setting standards are things that come slowly (at least for us) in a new business. Keeping your word is the best way to get started and grow successfully in any area of life, but especially in business. If you communicate respectfully, and show up looking presentable, when you say you are going to, it will surprise you how simple it is to keep getting called back.

Setting yourself up for retirement is something that you need to think about as a business owner, no one is going to do it for you. We had wiser people set us in the right direction, just start putting away what you can, & we now encourage the younger generation to do the same. “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

Another struggle we had was knowing when to let go of the odd jobs we had acquired as our farrier business started to take over. When you’re working 6 days a week and just paying bills it’s a struggle to let things go, comfort keeps you stuck, at some point you have to take a leap and trust the process. Now we are able to take weekends off & enjoy life outside of work a little more 🙂

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We’re a husband and wife AFA Certified Farrier team located in Wickenburg, AZ servicing Congress, Morristown, Wittman, Surprise, CaveCreek, Peoria, and some of the Valley.
We work half days during the hot summer months & accept select seasonal clients in the winter months, working all day in the beautiful AZ weather while Wickenburg boasts of an assortment of equestrians from across the USA.
Hot shoeing & performance horses are what we specialize in, though we hold an array of disciplines on the books as well as some barefoot horses. We enjoy the good horses on our books & the awesome people we get to meet along the way!

We are both continuing in our certifications with the American Farriers Association, the one we’re currently in the process of is the Certified Journeyman. The AFA tests have 3 parts a written, practical, & the live shoeing on a horse.
Certifications set you apart in the industry, though not everyone sees the benefit and it’s not required to hand out a business card. This is a process that needs to be talked about more as many horse owners are unaware that going to shoeing school does not give you a certification, and that there are less accredited certifications which don’t test your knowledge and skill as the AFA does.
Farriers are not regulated and due to that we have gotten a bad rap over the years, one of our goals is to be seen as part of the few that are changing the industry standard and building a strong trustworthy business in the farrier trade.

A piece of the business that we do well on, skill under the horse aside, is the communication and scheduling aspect. We keep a tight schedule and clients never have to worry about when their horse is due, we schedule ahead and confirm prior to arrival. Getting in touch with us is not a chore (given you use the good old fashion phone call or text), but we are picky these days choosing to enjoy our work by not fighting with horses or clients, we expect both to behave 😉

There are a lot of great farriers in Arizona, many of which are happy to hang out & visit at clinics, competitions, shop nights, and certifications. It’s a blessing to be building a business in a state that has so much knowledge combined, we strive to be considered in this group of top notch farriers.

What’s next?
Getting our CJF certification is our current future, it’s a major goal for the both of us. In May we took the test for the first time Sergio has 2 parts passed (written & forge) & Lydia has 1 part down (forge) we have 2 years to complete this. It takes a lot of study, time at the forge, and dedication to the trade to pass this particular certification. From there we may seek a few endorsements with AFA, that has yet to be decided as we need to pass the CJF first.
For 2026 Lydia has stated interest in entering a couple competitions with the WCB (World Championship Blacksmiths) an excellent organization that promotes learning in the trade through competition. You think you’re awesome at your job until you compete against someone better, it helps keep you honest!

Non-business related we’re looking to enjoy more of our hobby again, which is motorcycles, a different kind of horse power than what we work with every day (lol). Some road trips will definitely be in the future.

Contact Info:

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