Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 25, 1994 TAG: 9406250008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jenkins, the renowned rider, wasn't tired of the life he led during his four years out of the professional saddle. Sundry pursuits occupied his attention.
"I missed the jumpers, but I wasn't restless at all," he said. "I had people to teach, so I was able to stay with the jumpers that way. And I had my racehorses to train, so there was always something going on. The racehorses - steeplechase - were my primary business, anyway."
Training steeplechase horses didn't preclude Jenkins from having a little fun on the side, though. So he's jumping over fences again, appearing at the Roanoke Valley Horse Show, his sixth show this year, through Sunday.
Jenkins is certain to be riding in the Grand Prix of Roanoke on Sunday afternoon. The last time Jenkins negotiated the tight course at the Salem Civic Center was in 1987 aboard Aerobic.
They won, just as Jenkins did in 1986 atop Playback and in 1985 - the first year of the Grand Prix of Roanoke - aboard The Natural.
Folks around these parts loved the pipe-puffing, redheaded grandfather from Montpelier Station, perhaps because of his connection to glory as a rider in the Olympics, perhaps because he simply has a presence, an aura, a star power.
Whatever it is, fans here love Rodney. The affection, he returns.
"This is a very nice show here," he said as he took a break this week at his barn between instructional sessions with his students. "The ring is always very nice. It's air-conditioned. People try to make the show special and they make us [the riders] feel special. It's just very nice to be here."
Certainly, that isn't the first time Jenkins has said that. When you dominate as he has, you're bound to develop a fondness for the surroundings.
"I had some nice horses back then," he said. "They probably were the three or four best in the country at that time."
Jenkins already has showed three times this spring at the big shows in Ocala, Fla. He also has appeared at shows in New Jersey and Upperville. He'll be riding Ecuador and S & L Honeymoon this week.
"This isn't a very busy time for the racehorses, so it's a good time to go to some horse shows," he said. "Gives me something to do during the summer."
Jenkins works with 15 to 20 steeplechase horses.
"No superstars, yet," he said.
Steeplechase races are big around Orange County, where Jenkins grew up and still lives.
"I used to dabble in racing when I was a kid, point to point, that sort of thing," he said. "I'd always wanted to get into racing. It's a great deal of fun, very exciting."
Jenkins is not a big man, but he was too large to be a jockey, so that's one of the reasons he gravitated to the jumpers.
"To be honest with you, jumpers used to be all I thought about," he said. "But after 30 years, you can wear anything out."
Which is as simple an explanation as any for Jenkins' retirement four years ago.
"I just got tired of it," he said. "Always on the road, always staying in motels, going from one show to the next, it's a good life for a young man."
Once he was off the road, training steeplechase horses and teaching aspiring jumper-riders became his gig. One of his clients was an Olympic hopeful from New Hope Farm in Port Jervis, N.Y., named Ungin Moon. When she became pregnant, he began riding her horses.
"Really, it's a dream come true to work for people like that," he said. "They let you show when you feel like it and go to the shows that you want to go to. They're not so intense. It's more of a laid-back atmosphere."
After appearing at five other shows before his arrival in Roanoke, Jenkins is frank about how it's been.
"Your timing is a little bit off," he said. "You have to adjust. I'm very rusty, to tell you the truth. I hope to get better before I quit again."
by CNB