Page 16 - New Mexico Summer 2022

“I never had a day in my life that I didn’t
enjoy getting up, going to work with horses and people. That’s why I kept on going,” says Dr. Blach.
These days the Blachs are enjoying retirement. They spend carefree days on their 40-acre ranch on the east side of Roswell and Doc can’t help putting a little humor into their current state in life.
“There’s absolutely no stress to speak of and I enjoy doing nothing,” says Doc. “That’s what I did yesterday--nothing. And tomorrow, I’m going to do nothing because I didn’t get it done today.”
Throughout his life, Doc has craved adventure. He’s not afraid to take a chance or go against the grain. Beating the odds, whether for fun or more recently in a life-threatening scenario, has always been part of his mantra.
parents of two daughters, Serena and Pamela, and son Kevin. They have nine grandkids and seven great grandkids.
“I’ve loved every minute of it,” says Joanne. “We’ve had some good experiences. We’ve had some ups and downs, like everybody does.
But we’ve had a wonderful life together and
so many beautiful things have happened to us through the horse industry.”
One of those beautiful things happened 13 years ago when Mine That Bird, a 3-year-old gelding owned by Dr. Blach and partner Mark Allen, scored one of the most stunning upsets in Kentucky Derby history.
This whole Blach bonanza started when Joanne spotted Leonard in a freshman English class at CSU. There was an instant attraction, certainly at least on her part.
“I thought he looked pretty cool,” she says with a hearty laugh. “He was just something I was looking for maybe. I don’t know what I was looking for, but evidently it was there.”
motorcycles, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s really cool. I’ve got to find out who he is.’ I wanted to see him again, but I didn’t know how to do that.”
The next time they were in class, she introduced herself. They chatted and she invited Leonard to go with her to a lake about 30
miles from the CSU campus. As part a class assignment, Joanne was doing a story on the lake named Horsetooth Dam. Leonard agreed and they drove to the lake in his car. His Harley Davidson motorcycle with the baby blue paint job would have to wait.
“I just thought he was the cutest thing and I just kept chasing him,” recalls Joanne, again with a burst of laughter. “Finally, he asked me out and we went to a movie.”
Leonard took her up to the theater’s balcony, which Joanne thought seemed a little strange. “They were the cheaper seats,” says Joanne. “Come to find out, he had a girlfriend and his girlfriend’s roommate was at the movie too and saw us. He got caught big time and that ended that relationship.”
motorcycle when they went to Yuma to meet
““I never had a day in my life that I didn’t enjoy getting up, going to work with horses and people. That’s why I
So, this union of ‘ying and yang,’ as their
daugh“ter Serena described it, has been as “After class, he got on a blue motorcycle,” Joanne finally got a ride on the blue
much momentous as memorable. They are the
So, Joanne began, ‘chasing him.’ says Joanne. “I’d never been around
“My life with Leonard has taught me the joy of having siblings and sharing within a big family.” – Joanne Blach
14 New Mexico Horse Breeder
kept on going.” – Dr. Blach
Doc and Joanne are the parents of three children and have nine grandkids and seven great grandkids.
Doc and Joanne (shown in 1978) celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in June.
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