Retired Ex. Racers as Barrel Horses?

I have a family member who races horses. She races both QH's and TB's. She is the nivest lady and when she gets horses to get rid of she always gives them away to good homes. She is how I came to own my TB Nova. Now I was talking to her a few days ago and I mentioned that I REALLY enjoyed retraining my girl and I felt wonderful about giving her a home and setting her up for a new career and I began to think that I would REALLY like to do just that for a living. There is a racetrack around here that races QH's in certain seasons and mainly the horse events we have around here are rodeos. Barrel horses that are good, or kid friendly are paid VERY well for. The more I think about it the more I like the idea of transitioning OTQH's into barrel horses. I mentioned this to the lady and she told me that if I ever felt serious about doing something like that then she would be glad to find me some QH's to train from the track. Now I know I need to get out of college first but I was wondering what everyone else who barrel races thought of Quarter Horses off the track? Are they considered better or worse than bred barrel horses? Personal experiences or opinions? Good idea comments? Bad idea comments?

I'm on my way to the barn so I'll come back later and type more.

OTQHs need alot of rehabbing....mental physical and training wise. Most need a "come down" period of about 2 months to get all the supplements out of their system and to just be a horse again.

Some make it some don't really just depends on their mind

Thats something I am expecting. With my girl I brought her home and let her out in the pasture to be a horse for two months. She learned to be a horse again and then I started groundwork slowly and put a nice foundation on her and then began some faster stuff. I never speed a horse through training and id probably have the horses ready to do a local horsemanship pattern before I decided to start patterning on barrels. Im guessing what im asking is if you saw a OTQH whom had been trained to barrel race would you have any reservations about them due to them being off the track?

I own an OTQH that I barrel raced on. He's damn good at it but very easily blown up

I used to own a Quarter Horse that was raced on then I used her for barrel racing. She was a really nice horse but was really hot. I loved her though but she was getting old so I sold her to some little boy in Washington.

This is interesting, subbing to hear more on this.

It's not uncommon to hae horses come off the track and be barrel raced. It's growing more popular the more people realize that they are possible to retrain and damned fast too. However it is true tthat they tend to be very fragile.

I feel like OTQHs are great candidates for barrel racing.
I know that you, personally, don't rush anything in training, and that's (I believe) the only reason that a lot of the QHs I saw off the track and running blow up. I actually met someone at a show who got his right off the track a month prior and had him running the pattern and bragging about it to Drew and myself at the show about how quickly the gelding came around. All I could do was stare at him with a fake (yet believable, apparently) smile and nod my head to him when he started going on about how he just got the horse off the track last month and how quickly he trained him. How he won a ribbon with that horse..Horse wouldn't stand still, wouldn't stop (even with the big ass shank he had in his mouth), didn't want to turn at all, etc. I felt absolutely horrible for that horse, but hey..none of my business. :\

Anyway..moral of that^ ramble. If someone would have taken the time to let the gelding come down and put a solid foundation on him, he would've made an absolutely amazing barrel horse. With the spins and turns he was making (not on cue, mind you..) and the speed the horse had between barrels, he would've had any of the classes I've been to, hands down.

I'm actually hoping to get a few OTTBs and OTQHs when I get a chance. I'd love to have a full 2 months of just taking pasture pictures and some groundwork. Even though I love training and showing, just seeing them learning how to be horses appeals to me greatly. That way I can blow my camera up with pictures and spam you all.

But..main point, as long as they're not ran into the ground and allowed to be crazy (like some I know..*le sigh*), I think they'd be perfect for barrels, just need to know how to pick 'em. Obviously not all of them will be suited for barrels, but since I plan to do all sorts of western events (aside from pleasure), I'm sure I'll be able to do something with anything I got off the track, even if it's just a pack horse for camping. :p