In the Past: Nu Cash

Thirty years ago this fall, National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Hall of Fame inductee Ted Robinson, of Oak View, California, rode the first of his seven NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open champions, Nu Cash, to the winner’s circle.

A son of 1976 National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity Open Champion Colonel Freckles and out of Nu Rendition x Nu Bar, Nu Cash carried Ted Robinson, at age 34, to the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Championship in 1987. That also marked the year the association changed its name from California Reined Cow Horse Association to NRCHA. Nu Cash and Robinson’s winning 446.5 composite score was 6 points higher than Reserve champions Tuff A Lena (Dell O Lena x Vandys Sassy Sugar x Sugar Vandy) and Gary Baumer’s 440.5.

Following Nu Cash’s success in the reined cow horse discipline, Robinson showed the stallion in NCHA competition-in which he also excelled and won more than $38,000 before the stallion was retired from the show pen. The stallion sired 517 American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) offspring before he became sterile; his final foal crop was born in 2002. His offspring have NRCHA earnings of $1,089,533, NCHA earnings of $503,519, National Reining Horse Association earnings of $160,883 and AQHA earnings of $34,913.

An NRCHA Hall of Fame inductee and Equi-Stat Elite $2 Million Sire, Nu Cash, a 1984 sorrel stallion bred by Doug and Betty Erbes, of Santa Rosa, California, sired three NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open champions – all trained and shown by Robinson. Those champions include The Nu Colonel (out of Malbeckin x Doc’s Malbec), in 1995; Shesa Lota Cash (out of Snip Gay Bar x Gay Bar King), in 1996; and Smart Little Cash (out of Lil Miss Smarty Chex x Smart Little Lena), in 1997. Robinson also rode Nu Circle Of Light (Nu Circle N Cash x Katie Starlight x Grays Starlight), a grandson of Nu Cash, to the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity winner’s circle in 2005.

Among Nu Cash’s leading money-earners are Precious Lil Cash ($90,973), Smart Little Cash ($84,750), Smartcashinvestment ($75,241), The Nu Colonel ($74,668), Nu Circle N Cash ($68,408), Nu Chex To Cash ($65,654) and Dry Cash Tivio ($64,641).

In 2011, Nu Cash underwent a life-saving colic surgery. He enjoyed another year of retirement before dying due to kidney failure in October 2012 at the age of 28.

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