Lindsey Ware and Aristede. Image by Amy-Sue Alston.
At 19 years old, Aristede – affectionately known as ‘Astro’ – has retired from the dressage arena. With numerous wins in Grand Prix with his riders and rarely a score below 68%, it is a shame we will no longer see this gorgeous bay gelding in the competition arena – but what a career he has had.
Shannan Goodwin competing with Aristede as a young horse in Sydney.
Astro was purchased by Shannan Connell (nee Goodwin) as a three-year-old from Nicole Magoffin. The deal came about after Shannan had purchased a stockhorse as her future dressage mount… but with no arena and not the right type of horse for the sport, Nicole pointed her to her young warmblood gelding by Aachimedes out of Lunar, by Lander. Shannan sold her stockhorse and then paid off Astro, and their journey began.
“I picked him up from the breakers and had no idea what I was doing! He was always super quiet but incredibly wobbly and wiggly, not straight at all,” Shannan shares.
“He was always super
quiet but incredibly
wobbly and wiggly…”
The two progressed through the levels together and it was in the Prix St Georges at Sydney CDI in 2014 that Astro started to show he was a true competitor. “I could not do a single line of tempis in the warm-up, and then I went in and did a foot perfect test.”
The jump from Prix St Georges to Grand Prix is almost the same as Preliminary to Prix St Georges, and as Astro was more bum high, he was often overlooked as a future Grand Prix horse.
“We would go to all the fancy German trainers that would come out and they would watch him trot off and go ‘he will never do piaffe or pirouettes’ – but if there was one thing I could guarantee, it was that he was going to get an 8.0 for his piaffe and pirouettes.”
Shannan’s original plan was to do a year of CDN classes and then sell him, but Astro continued to get better, so they made a CDI start in 2017 for a respectable score of 62.160%. This score quickly improved and a year later they won the CDI-W Grand Prix at Dressage with the Stars with 70.500%.
Shannan and Astro competing at Boneo Park. Image by Roger Fitzhardinge.
LOVE OF PERFORMING
He may have not been the flashiest horse in the field, but every time Astro went into the arena he produced consistent, technically accurate, reliable tests. Regularly scoring 68% and higher at CDI level over and over highlighted his trainability and love of performing.
Their success saw them with leading scores ahead of World Equestrian Games selection in 2018. Once the criteria changed, the pair ended up as second reserve; disappointing, but still a massive feat! Shannan credits part of her success of their WEG campaign to Olympian Lyndal Oatley.
“From the other side of the world she reviewed every one of my tests for that year and explained to me each time how to adjust my lines and ride the test to maximise my score – I attribute a lot of Astro’s success that year to her support.”
“I attribute a lot of Astro’s
success that year to
[Lyndal Oatley’s] support…”
Shannan and Astro with the late Terry Snow at Willinga Park in 2017.
Following this, Shannan made the decision to put Astro on the market and 16-year-old Lindsey Ware was one of the first to contact Shannan. Lindsey had her first ride on him at Boneo Park the day after the combination had placed second in the CDI Grand Prix Freestyle there, and like magic they just clicked.
Like Shannan, Lindsey went from a stockhorse cross that she had been doing Medium on, to Astro.
“He taught me everything,” Lindsey shares. “Our first competition together was a qualifier at a small young rider competition, and I came out of the arena so upset as he’d done one-tempi changes instead of threes, and I thought I wasn’t going to score well and I got 68%. I had just stuffed it up and it was still 68%. Luckily, we didn’t have any one-tempi change errors going forward – but I certainly made different mistakes; Astro, however, was consistently amazing.”
That consistency is reflected in their competition record. The combination was undefeated at CDIs in the Young Rider classes and U25 Grand Prix with nine out of 12 CDI posted scores being above 70%.
In 2022, the pair stepped out in their first open CDI Grand Prix at Boneo to come away with 69.195% in the Grand Prix, 68.362% in the Special and 71.485% in the Freestyle for third. They continued their success for the rest of the year making a top six finish in every CDI.
“It was very special to see
a horse go to a young rider
and be just as competitive.”
Lindsey and Astro competing at Boneo Park. Image by Equisoul Photography.
“It was very special to see a horse go to a young rider and be just as competitive if not more competitive in the open Grand Prix,” Shannan shares.
VICTORY AT EQUITANA
Their final CDI together was the CDI-W in November at Equitana 2022, where the pair won the Freestyle with 71.875%. “I had always wanted to ride at Equitana, and then to have a horse not only compete there but to win the Grand Prix Freestyle is more than I could have ever hoped for.”
As riders will know, the best of plans do not always come to fruition. “The plan for Astro was to retire at the end of the 2023 season. We arrived at Willinga Park for Dressage by the Sea in 2023, and he was lame. We scratched and brought him home to get scanned to find that he had injured a suspensory branch in his left hind, and from there it was just a series of unfortunate events.”
Lindsey and Astro at Equitana. Image by Roger Fitzhardinge.
Upon completing his rehab in August of 2023, Astro started back in light work. By the end of 2023 he was starting the Grand Prix work again, however in January of 2024 it was found that he had chipped his front left cannon where the suspensory attaches. This was only a minor setback, but at the completion of his second rehab in April, Astro kicked a hole in the gate and metal went through his hoof and led to an E.coli infection. This led to a long stint at the Ballarat veterinary hospital as they had to drill into the hoof to fix the infection and remove the metal that had broken off inside. He was sound straight after his hoof had been drilled into, and was given the official all-clear in August – so Lindsey and Astro recommenced work.
“A month into the process he popped up lame on the left hind; I immediately got the vet out and it was diagnosed as a small suspensory tear, and I chose to retire him on the spot. I would have loved to do a big retirement with him and finish with a high, but it just didn’t happen. He is happy and that’s all that matters.”
“He has given me so
much and I am forever
grateful for him.”
Astro, pictured here with Shannan, had an incredible Grand Prix career.
Astro now spends his days enjoying life. “He still comes into the stable at night and goes out in the morning. He is as happy as can be and that’s all that matters. I don’t really care about trying to go out and compete him again because he has given me so much and I am forever grateful for him.”
From a wobbly three-year-old to a Grand Prix champion under two riders, Astro’s journey is a tribute to the incredible partner and teacher he became. EQ
Related articles
Growing up in the Northern Territory, Nicole Mutimer taught herself to ride with grit and determination. Following a “20-year apprenticeship”, Nicole now leads the way in managing horses and mentoring riders in Australia’s Top End through a combination of equitation science, climate-specific care and nutrition – and outback resilience.
Millicent ‘Millie’ Fletcher is one eight talented riders set to contest the CDI Junior classes at the upcoming Boneo Park Winter CDI. Following her recent win at the Sydney CDI, Roger Fitzhardinge caught up with Millie to hear about her cheeky partner Amsterdam and find out why she loves the sport the dressage.