Renowned show jumper and Thoroughbred trainer Rodney Jenkins passed away peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, December 5, as reported by the Daily Racing Form. He was 80 years old. Rodney was raised surrounded by horses, as his father, Enis Jenkins, served as the huntsman for Manly Carter’s private pack in Orange, Virginia, before he […]
Renowned show jumper and Thoroughbred trainer Rodney Jenkins passed away peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, December 5, as reported by the Daily Racing Form. He was 80 years old.
Rodney was raised surrounded by horses, as his father, Enis Jenkins, served as the huntsman for Manly Carter’s private pack in Orange, Virginia, before he took a role at the now-defunct Rapidan Hunt (Virginia). In his youth, Rodney spent his time in the hunt field, assisting his father and, along with his younger brothers Dale and Larry, helped in caring for the horses and hounds.
He began his journey in the show ring on field hunters as a teenager, and after graduating high school in 1961, he secured a position with Gene Mische, where he competed across the East Coast for three years. He then returned to his family’s farm, focusing on training racehorses and assisting in the hunt field.
Rodney continued to show in the hunters, riding for owners such as Peggy Steinman, Kathryn Clark, and Mrs. A.C. Randolph. However, as the jumper circuit gained popularity, Rodney excelled in that area. He rode notable horses like Idle Dice, Number One Spy, Playback, Coastline, Czar, Gustavus, and The Natural to grand prix wins, securing the American Gold Cup three times and winning the grand prix at both the National Horse Show (New York) and Washington International (D.C.) three times each. He was a part of 10 winning Nations Cup teams, achieved eighth place in the 1974 World Championships in Hickstead, England, and took sixth place in the 1980 FEI World Cup Final (Maryland) with Third Man. In 1987, he was honored with the American Grandprix Association’s Rider of the Year and American Horse Shows Association’s Horseman of the Year awards.
Throughout much of his career, he was unable to compete on Olympic or Pan American Games teams due to the International Olympic Committee’s restrictions limiting the Games to amateur athletes. However, once those restrictions were lifted, Rodney rode Czar at the 1987 Pan American Games (Indiana), securing both team and individual silver medals.
“There wasn’t a horse he couldn’t ride,” Rodney’s brother Larry told the Chronicle in 2011. “He could adapt his riding style to fit the horse, bringing out the best in all of them. Horses genuinely liked him.”
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Rodney was associated with one of the most renowned warmblood imports of the era when he and a partner purchased The Natural in 1985. Rodney secured the American Gold Cup on the gelding before they sold him for an impressive $1 million. That horse went on to triumph in the 1987 FEI World Cup Final in Paris with Katherine Burdsall.
Rodney was inducted into both the National Horse Show Hall Of Fame and the Show Jumping Hall Of Fame, and in his 40s, he made the decision to step back from showing.
“I promised myself that when I reached a point where I didn’t feel I was performing at my best, I would stop. I wasn’t going to continue riding until I was old. I believed the right time to leave was when I did,” he shared with the Chronicle in 2011.
Following that, he shifted his focus to training racehorses, starting with steeplechasers and later working with flat racers, accumulating over $24 million in career earnings. In 2003, he was recognized as the most outstanding trainer by the Maryland Thoroughbred Horse Association.
As reported by the Daily Racing Form, Rodney retired from training earlier this year due to declining health.
