In the early 2000s, Katy Harvey purchased a former Hanoverian broodmare named Flizzard (Wertherson—Mistral) to be her dressage mount. With her copper coat, white socks and broad white blaze, “Fizz” was a stunner, and although she was still green under saddle after having several foals, Harvey was excited to develop their partnership.

Not long after Fizz arrived at Harvey’s barn outside of Cincinnati, the rider learned she herself was expecting. For several years, Harvey tried to balance motherhood with horse ownership, but eventually she sold Fizz to a couple who offered to give the mare a long-term home. Instead, they re-sold Fizz, and despite Harvey’s best efforts, she lost track of where the mare went next.

“I’ve always been concerned about where my horses end up,” Harvey said. “Fizz was a sweet mare, and I wanted to make sure she had a good landing for herself.”

Harvey heard a rumor that Fizz might be with a hunter/ jumper trainer on the East Coast, so in June 2010, she posted a message on the Chronicle forums, asking if anyone knew her whereabouts. A few members replied they would keep an eye out, and one was able to track down information on several of Fizz’s foals. Beyond that, Fizz’s fate remained a mystery.

Imagine Harvey’s surprise when, on Jan. 25, 2024, she received a notification that someone had responded to her long-buried thread—14 years after her original query.

A Soft Landing

In 2008, Sarah Garnsey was taking riding lessons in Seekonk, Massachusetts, but her focus was more on recreation than competition. When the program shut down unexpectedly, a friend helped Garnsey make arrangements to free lease the horse she had been riding most regularly—a chestnut named Fizz. Garnsey moved Fizz to an eventing barn closer to her home on the Rhode Island border, but as the horse was for sale, she assumed it would be a short-term arrangement.

“But the owner just sort of faded out of the scene over time, and a couple years later, I figured Fizz was mine now,” said Garnsey. “I wouldn’t have wanted to give her up at that point anyway. I was in love with her.”

Garnsey didn’t know much about Fizz’s past. It was clear the mare had some dressage training but only minimal experience over fences, and because flatwork was Garnsey’s preference anyway, they were a good fit.

“Like most mares, she could be a little complicated,” said Garnsey. “As calm and matronly as she was, she had a big spook—that was her one vice. Other than that crazy big spook, she wasn’t a spicy girl. She was very reliable, very calm, and very kind.”

For 16 years, Garnsey enjoyed riding Fizz four or five days a week. The mare helped her get through a challenging divorce and amassed a large fan club who followed the mare on her own Facebook page.

On Jan. 19, 2024, at the age of 30 and surrounded by some of her many friends, Fizz died. As tributes to this special mare poured in, Garnsey thought maybe her former owner would want to know she had passed. Garnsey logged back on to the Chronicle forums and found Harvey’s thread from 2010.

It had been so long since she had been on the forums, Harvey couldn’t remember her password, but as soon as she received notification about a new post on the “Fizz” thread, she scrambled to regain access. When she read Garnsey’s touching obituary to her special friend, Harvey’s heart filled with happiness.

“Just knowing Fizz was well cared for and loved by somebody this whole time, when I’d been worried about what had happened to her, was such a relief,” said Harvey. “It is so awesome that she has had this wonderful owner who has loved her and appreciated her for 16 years—and that she lived to the ripe old age of 30.”

This article originally appeared in the February 2024, issue of The Chronicle of the Horse. You can subscribe and get online access to a digital version and then enjoy a year of The Chronicle of the Horse and our lifestyle publication, Untacked. If you’re just following COTH online, you’re missing so much great unique content. Each print issue of the Chronicle is full of in-depth competition news, fascinating features, probing looks at issues within the sports of hunter/jumper, eventing and dressage, and stunning photography.