Page 108 - September 2018

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owned Champion Tonto Bars Gill, sire of Champion Tonto Bars Hank who won the All American Futurity in 1960. Charlie lived in New Mexico and enticed and encouraged me to move my family to Santa Fe, where I started my practice, Santa Fe Equine.”
Leonard also met Marion Seward, who had Champion Breeze Bar and a breeding farm; and Lonnie Schliep, who had
multiple Quarter Horse World Champion broodmare sire Lanolark TB. All three were looking for a large animal vet and knew Leonard from when he was a kid there. “It was like it was made for me, and I had plenty of work,” he adds.
“My wife drove the station wagon and I drove my vet truck. Everything we owned was in those two things and I had $300 in my pocket,” he recalls. “I did have a place to stay and went to work the next day, so it was okay; but nowadays, you wouldn’t do that.”
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What is it that sets some people on the path to happiness and success while others seem to struggle through hardship and difficulty throughout their life?
Veterinarian Leonard Blach’s life is a testament that the difference stems from four things:
being able to hear that voice that’s within us
all if we choose to listen — call it conscience, inspiration or divine guidance; having the faith to follow those promptings we receive; cultivating appreciation and gratitude for the blessings that follow; and having the support of our loved ones.
Throughout his life — from veterinary school to returning home to Yuma, Colorado, to gather his thoughts; to a practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and then on to Buena Suerte Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine Center in Roswell, New Mexico — Leonard says, “It wasn’t my plan. All
of that was God’s plan. It wasn’t something I ever designed to do. And I never was afraid that I might fail. I just felt like somehow, the good Lord was telling me, ‘This is what you need to do next.’”
by Diane Rice
HIS YOUTH
Leonard’s parents raised him, along with four brothers and three sisters, on their farm and ranch in Yuma, Colorado, where he
was born on July 30, 1934. “I was always interested in animals,” he says, “especially the large animals. So since my brothers all had a part in the farming, I was destined to go to veterinary school.”
While at Colorado State University, he met and married Joanne Fulenwinder in 1957, and they welcomed the first of their three children — Serena — in 1958, and later, Kevin and Pamela.
After graduation, with his sights set on large animal practice, he evaluated his offers. But none provided the equine emphasis he’d set his heart on, so he returned home to Yuma to work and put out some feelers.
“It was probably a blessing,” he says, “because it was there that I met some astute horsemen, including Charlie Lockridge, who
106 SPEEDHORSE, September 2018