A born horseman whose natural ability made him a legend, Rodney Jenkins was the ultimate winner in the days when he reigned as a dominant force on the grand prix circuit with his most famous mount, the equally talented Idle Dice.
The Red Rider, who had been in deteriorating health, passed away in his sleep at age 80 on Thursday. The loss has been keenly felt around the equestrian community, where he was an idol. Many people remembered sitting ringside watching Rodney school horses as a way to improve their own technique, though who could match him?
The red-head grew up learning to ride by the seat of his pants in Orange, Va., where his father, Enis Jenkins, was a professional horseman. He became a huntsman, then went on to work for Gene Mische, who went on to be the country’s best known horse show organizer.
Rodney’s talent took him to the top of the sport, with victories everywhere from Madison Square Garden to Devon and all the other great shows. His honors included being American Grand Prix Association champion and American Horse Shows Association Horseman of the Year. After hanging up his saddle in 1989, Rodney turned to training racehorses. He was successful at that too, until he retired for good earlier this year. His best season at the track came in 2006, when his horses won $1.8 million.
But he will be most remembered for his ability in the show ring, a standout with the hunters as well as the jumpers. He had a great eye for a fence, and understood what a horse was thinking almost before the horse knew what it was thinking. If you had to sum it up in one word, Rodney was a horseman.
He also was a low-key and kind person.
Retired show jumper Melanie Smith Taylor has an especially warm place in her heart for Rodney, and her mind flashed back to their special connection when she learned of his death.
After the owners of Melanie’s 1984 Olympic gold medal mount, Calypso, went into bankruptcy, they sent the horse to Rodney to be sold. But Rodney dragged his feet and never showed Calypso.
It wasn’t just that the Dutchbred gelding didn’t happen to be Rodney’s type of ride; he knew Calypso had always been Melanie’s horse, and he didn’t want to see such a great athlete demoted to being a junior jumper or some other job unworthy of his record.
Melanie’s fiancée, polo player Lee Taylor, realized the only thing missing from her life was Calypso. So he went to Rodney and said he wanted to buy the great horse and retire him to his Tennessee farm—though he didn’t mention his connection to Melanie.
But she believes “Rodney read between the lines and knew he was coming home to me. Rodney made it happen.”
The horseman felt the brilliant show jumper should quit at the top of his game (the way Rodney himself would eventually end his showing career).
The deal went through, and Melanie was ecstatic when Calypso arrived at Lee’s farm for a long and happy retirement.
Another top show jumper, Bernie Traurig, reminisced about looking up to Rodney as his own career got under way.
He recalled in a social media post that, “As a young professional, Rodney was my mentor. I was a sponge for his education, learning anything I could soak in from his wisdom and ability. As much as possible, I would watch him school, teach at clinics, watch him show, learn how he managed his stable and what he fed his horses,” Bernie recalled.
“I was lucky to even sell him some very nice horses. I begged him to try Idle Dice as a 5-year-old when I was showing him as a hunter, and, well, the rest is history. He was arguably the best horseman and rider of hunters and jumpers in his heyday, and set the bar for us all.”
Show jumper Jimmy Torano compared Rodney to basketball superstar Michael Jordan in terms of the domination of his sport, and noted sadly, “We already missed seeing him at the shows. Now we will really miss him. He is a Legend. The Greatest of all Time.”
In addition to Harry Gill’s thoroughbred, Idle Dice, who won everything, from multiple victories in the American Gold Cup to the President’s Cup (four times), Rodney’s many show jumping partners included Number One Spy, also owned by Gill; The Natural, the first jumper to sell for $1 million, American Invitational winner Third Man and Czar, on whom he earned double silver at the 1987 Pan American Games.
Rodney missed the Olympics at the height of his career because only amateurs could compete in the Games and Pan Ams during that period. As a professional, he was ineligible until the rules were loosened and he was able to compete at the Pan Ams.
Rodney Jenkins, right, with 1987 Pan Am Games silver medal team members Greg Best, Katherine Burdsall and Lisa Jacquin (Karl Leck Photo)
A member of the Show Jumping and National Show Hunter Halls of Fame, he was also inducted into the Washington International Horse Show Hall of Fame when I caught up with him a few years ago. He reminisced about the days when he was riding, adding he hadn’t been on a horse since 2008. He still judged some shows–who could argue with his eye for a horse?
“I really miss the competition,” he admitted in his soft southern drawl
“I enjoyed showing, and when I didn’t, I quit. The horse show glitter is wonderful, but I see it’s going on great without me. They have some wonderful riders out there.”
Rodney Jenkins and Idle Dice.
He told me he would look at show jumping on TV (no doubt while smoking his pipe), saying, “I love to watch a good horse jump, and there seems to be a lot of them.”
He was devoted to his wife of 26 years, Un Jin Jenkins, who rode in the 1988 Olympics representing South Korea and is now a prolific painter. The couple lived in Maryland with their two sons, Matthew and Ty. Rodney described them as “all-American boys” who participated in sports, but not riding.
Rodney, who also had three children from a previous marriage, Blythe, Robert and race horse trainer Patrick Jenkins, enjoyed staying in one place instead of constantly being on the move as in his horse show days.
“It’s the best time of my life,” he said with a smile. “God is good to me.”