The ninth International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR) will be held in Lexington, Kentucky, and it is scheduled to take place April 24-26, 2025. The conference portion of the three-day event will be held at Spy Coast Farm’s Equine Education Center, while a variety of on-site visits will also be arranged to aftercare facilities in the area.
“Following our extremely successful conference in Japan this August, we are pleased to announce the host site for our next gathering,” said IFAR Chair Eliot Forbes. “Sharing experiences and best practices make up a key component of the IFAR mission as we work to raise awareness globally of the importance of welfare for Thoroughbred racehorses.”
The focus of the 2025 IFAR conference will be on aftercare organizations. Further details will be released closer to the event. If there are specific topics you would like to see covered or if you are part of an aftercare organization that may be interested in presenting, please contact IFAR at IFARconference@gmail.com.
In addition to the traditional conference and on-site visits, a social gathering will be held during the cross country portion of the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, one of the world’s premier equestrian 5* events. Although the numbers change year to year, Thoroughbreds routinely feature in the competition.
The IFAR conference will be receiving assistance from the Japan Racing Association (JRA), which has entered into a multi-year sponsorship agreement to support the activities of the organization.
IFAR has previously conducted forums in conjunction with the 40th Asian Racing Conference (ARC) in Sapporo, Japan in August 2024; the 39th ARC in Melbourne, Australia in February 2023; the 38th ARC in Cape Town, South Africa, in February 2020; the European & Mediterranean Horseracing Federation’s General Assembly in Oslo, Norway, in May 2019; the 37th ARC in Seoul, South Korea, in May 2018; and the Pan American Conference in Washington, D.C., in May 2017. Virtual conferences were held in 2021 and 2022.
IFAR is an independent forum that recognizes geographical and industry differences among racing countries and is designed to enhance Thoroughbred aftercare worldwide. IFAR will raise awareness of the importance of welfare for Thoroughbreds, improve education on lifetime care, and help increase demand for former racehorses in other equestrian sports. For more information on IFAR, visit https://www.internationalracehorseaftercare.com.
International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses