After a long and successful career, Geir Gulliksen has retired his now 21-year-old gelding Edesa S Banjan (Toulon x Lys de Darmen) from the sport. With Gulliksen in the saddle, Edesa S Banjan jumped at the World Equestrian Games in Caen in 2014, as well as at the European Championships in Aachen in 2015 and in Gothenburg in 2017. In 2015, the pair also competed in the Longines FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas after a good season where they finished second in the CSI5*-W World Cup in Leipzig and fifth in the CSI5*-W World Cup in London. The two have many top five finishes to look back at, from Drammen, Falsterbo, Hickstead Las Vegas, London, Oslo, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Valkenswaard. 

Edesa S Banjan came to Gulliksen from Enda Carroll's Ashford Farm, where he had been competed successfully all the way up to five-star Grand Prix level by Marlon Modolo Zanotelli. 

“Banjan has been a really important horse for me,” Gulliksen tells World of Showjumping. “He was perhaps not the biggest super-star of them all, but he did so many championships with me and has a lot of good results at the highest level. Banjan was a real working horse, that always delivered – with a really nice character.”

“All the way, Banjan has been in grape shape, and he could easily have kept on going but at the age of 21 he is no longer allowed to compete internationally. Latest in October, he jumped the national Grand Prix in Oslo and he was also placed in a ranking class last year. He looks more like an 8-year-old in the body that a 21-year-old,” Gulliksen smiles. “A lot of my horses keep on going at an older age, and I think it comes down to varied work and not jumping too many shows with them. I believe that the biggest problem in our sport today is that the riders do too many shows with the horses. As to Banjan, he only jumped his first international Grand Prix when 11 so he was a late starter and has lasted long.”

“Banjan now stays with my daughter Victoria in Belgium, and goes out in the field and hacks out, enjoying life,” Gulliksen closes off.

At World of Showjumping, we wish Banjan a happy retirement!