Each year, the National Snaffle Bit Association remembers NSBA past president June Warren by awarding the June Warren Memorial trophy. The trophy is presented to the winner of the Breeders Championship Futurity Three Year Old Open Hunter Under Saddle futurity winner.

June earned multiple AQHA World and All American Quarter Horse Congress champion in Hunter Under Saddle events and made a huge mark on the breeding industry with the NSBA Hall Of Fame stallion, Last Detail. June was also a huge advocate for the Hunter Under Saddle horse within NSBA and its inclusion in the Breeders Championship Futurity. She served on the NSBA board of directors and as the association’s president in 2005. June passed away following a two-year battle with brain cancer in 2010. The memorial award has been presented since 2011.

June’s imprint is found throughout the NSBA World Championship Show. “I remember talking with June at the NSBA World Show in 2006 when it was just getting started,” noted Beth Case. “She told me that this show was going to be the biggest horse show of all - and she was right. Look at it now!”

“June was a huge supporter in developing the Breeders Championship Futurity, because she saw the value in giving back to the stallion owner, the breeder and the owner, so that they each had an incentive to participate in the BCF,” added Leslie Vagneur Lange. “She was the one who asked me to serve on the NSBA’s Hunter Under Saddle Committee.”

June and her partner, Ron Horn, became well known around the horse industry for their discovery, management and promotion of AQHA stallion Last Detail. “June and Ron really led the way in the breeding of Hunter Under Saddle horses,” Leslie noted. “They were in on the ground floor in not only breed, but campaigning the Hunter Under Saddle horses they raised.”

“She rode so many good horses and set the standard for the Hunter Under Saddle horses in many ways,” added Dwayne Pickard. “June was a great lady, and she was such a great advocate for the Hunter Under Saddle division. I did a lot of business with her husband Ron over the years and we have become good friends.”

June’s expertise in training her Hunter Under Saddle horses was well known throughout the industry. “She sure put a foundation on the horses she trained,” added Beth. “I’ll never forget buying a four year old gelding, Must Be A Detail, from June. She had won a lot on him as a two year old, and then I won a lot with him as a four year old. Later he won a ton of things with the entire Papendick family from the Senior, Select, to the Amateur.” 
June coached Non-Pro exhibitor Laurel Champlin’s daughter, Krista, to an AQHYA world championship in the 18 & Under Hunt Seat Equitation aboard Rikers Legacy in 1997. “I had told Krista that she could go to any trainer she wanted,” Laurel said. “Krista watched all of the trainers, and said ‘I want June Warren. She is so talented. I watched her show, I love how she shows, and I want June.’

“I had known June since I was 16 years old. We were friends, had shown together, and I had trained. That’s one of my greatest memories – that she made Krista a world champion!”

A Goal To Win

“When they announced the first Breeders Championship Futurity Three Year Old Hunter Under Saddle Memorial trophy, I had made it my goal to win that class, not so much to win the class itself, but to win it in June’s honor,” Trisha Yamber explained. “I didn’t win it, but that was a class I always tried to win. She was a great competitor.”

Nancy Sue Ryan and Gracious N Fabulous won the inaugural June Warren Memorial trophy as the winner of the Breeders Championship Futurity Three Year Old Hunter Under Saddle Futurity. 
“June fought very hard for the recognition of the Hunter Under Saddle Horses in NSBA,” said Nancy Sue. “I had known her since she was a young girl. She was quiet, but a force to be reckoned with. It was an honor to win that first memorial trophy in her name. It still sits in my trophy case.”

June Warren was inducted into the NSBA Hall Of Fame posthumously in 2013. The 2025 June Warren Memorial trophy will be presented to the champion in the Breeders Championship Futurity Three Year Old Open Hunter Under Saddle futurity class on Friday, August 15.

About NSBA

Established in 1983, National Snaffle Bit Association has expanded from its roots in the Western Pleasure discipline to recognize various disciplines and eight breed associations in competition. NSBA’s mission is to grow the show horse community through various equine programs and events where every activity benefits horses, breeders, owners and exhibitors alike.

National Snaffle Bit Association has more than 20,000 active members and more than 44,000 registered horses across its eight alliance breed organizations. NSBA members earn more than $13.5 million in monetary awards at NSBA-sanctioned horse shows annually, and the association sanctions nearly 600 horse show events and close to 200,000 horse show entries each year.

To learn more about NSBA, please visit nsba.com.