FEATURE
ShowMD’s DR. BARBARA BLASKO The Doctor Is In... at the Horse Show
S WORDS:
EMILY RANDOLPH/RANDOLPHPR
PE AK TO PATIENTS OF Dr. Barbara Blasko, and
you’re likely to hear a lot of similar sentiments: “Barb saved my life!” And, “I wouldn’t have been able to show if it weren’t Dr. Barb!” Whether it was a shoulder put back into place ringside instead of a trip to the emergency room, or a lifesaving diagnosis between classes, Dr. Blasko’s mobile concierge medical service, ShowMD, has been an addition to the horse show that many didn’t even know they needed.
For Blasko, the feeling of gratitude is mutual. While the board-certified emergency medicine physician has spent more than 20 years working in ERs, it is inside the ShowMD mobile health clinic where she has found her true calling. “My work with ShowMD makes me so grateful to be a doctor,” says Blasko. “I feel like everything that I’ve done leading up to this has been for this purpose—to be a
54 THE PLAID HORSE October/November 2021
doctor at horse shows and to take care of people who ride.”
TAKING CARE OF RIDERS LIKE RIDERS TAKE CARE OF THEIR HORSES Before she was Dr. Barbara Blasko, M.D., Blasko was a horse-crazy kid growing up in Long Island, NY. A $1 pony ride at a fair sparked her ongoing love of the animals, and she
began taking lessons at the age of 8. When she was 14, her parents bought Blasko her first horse, an Appendix Quarter Horse named Myrtle. “I started doing the ‘B’ show circuit on Long Island and the equitation,” says Blasko. “I worked for some trainers on Long Island as a groom and a braider to pay for my horse expenses. I didn’t have my own horse in college; it was just too expensive, but I did ride others’ horses. I kept braiding and grooming in college and in medical school. That kept me sane during my studies.” Today, Blasko balances running ShowMD with being an associate clinical professor of emergency medicine at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, CA, and an avid amateur show jumper. As a frequent competitor in the adult jumpers, it was not long before Blasko’s medical acumen became known at horse shows throughout California. “A handful of people knew that I’m a
