June Warren Memorial Award Honors Excellence In Hunter Under Saddle

NSBA not only awards the excellence of young Hunter Under Saddle horses but also annually honors an icon who greatly influenced the Hunter Under Saddle discipline with the presentation of the June Warren Memorial Award to the champion of the Breeders Championship Futurity Three Year Old Open Hunter Under Saddle Futurity.

The 2026 award was presented on Friday, August 21, during the class to Enticed To The Max and new NSBA Quarter Million Dollar Rider Laura Spell, showing for owner Jamie Bishop.

The three year old gelding is by Enticed and out of Boys Move Over, and was bred by the Deeds Family Farm. 

“Phillip is a special horse to me,” Laura said. “I showed him to my very first Quarter Horse Congress win last year. He’s a very fun show horse and he just goes around and makes you excited to get to ride and show him. He’s a dream to have. I’ve had a lot of really nice horses, but he is one in a million to get to train and show, and we have really bonded with each other.”

When asked about winning the June Warren Memorial Award, Laura said: “I never had the opportunity to meet June Warren, but I knew of her. My husband Wade always talked about how exceptional she was. She truly was an icon in our industry, and she was really a top tier rider, trainer and horsewoman who did so much for the Hunter Under Saddle horse. It is an honor to get to represent her through this award.”

Remembering June

The late June Warren earned multiple AQHA World and All American Quarter Horse Congress championships 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 in her honor since 2011.

Nancy Sue Ryan, who won the inaugural June Warren Memorial trophy in 2011 with Gracious N Fabulous, remembers being presented with the first award. “It was an honor to win that first memorial trophy in her name, and it still sits in my trophy case,” she said. “June fought very hard for the recognition of the Hunter Under Saddle horses in NSBA. She was quiet, but a force to be reckoned with.”

The award soon became sought after by Hunter Under Saddle exhibitors. “When they announced the first Breeders Championship Futurity Three Year Old Hunter Under Saddle Memorial trophy, I really made that a goal to win that class, not so much to win the class itself, but to win it in June’s honor, noted Trisha Yamber. “She was a great competitor.”

June and her partner, Ron Horn, became well known around the horse industry for their discovery, management and promotion of Last Detail and his offspring. She was inducted posthumously into the NSBA Hall Of Fame in 2013.

https://nsba.com/archives/june-warren-memorial-excellence-hunter-under-saddle