If you ask Shawn Johnson how she became involved in showing horses, she will chuckle and tell you that she never really had a choice in the matter. Shawn’s parents, Francis and Delores Schanen had horses long before Shawn was born. As soon as they married Shawn’s parents bought property in Grafton, Wisconsin where they could build a stable for her mother and an airport for her father.

“My mom’s heart was always with Halter horses.  She acquired what I think she would call her dream horse, Mananas Rosa who is the dam of Major Bonanza,” Shawn said. “So technically I was riding before I was even born and won my first Lead Line class at the age of 3.”

As Shawn was growing up her mother established a partnership with the owner of Coy’s Bonaza, in which every other year they swapped who got the foal.

“I really respect the horses my mom was raising at that time. They were truly versatile everything from Halter to Working Cow horse to Pleasure,” Johnson said. “It’s so fun to look at the old picture that we have when they pulled the tails short and left the manes longish.”

Even though there were always fancy show horses around, Shawn’s first experience, like many youngsters just getting started, was with a nasty little pony.

“We had an indoor arena that was 150-by-80 and all she would do is run from one corner to the next,” Johnson recalled. “The only way I could get out was if someone came to my rescue.  Then it would be full out run to the next corner.”

Finally, Shawn’s parents came to the realization that their daughter was in this for the long haul and bought her a really nice pony that she showed for years and years.

“I think that I lived on that poor pony,” she said.

When she was ready for a horse, Shawn’s parents got her a big buckskin gelding that she eventually showed in every class she could enter at the local open shows.

“My parents really believed I had to earn my way into a nice horse,” she explained. “Finally, they gave in and started to get me nicer horses that could actually compete on at an AQHA show.”

Over the next few years, Shawn had several different horses that she showed, until one day they found a beautiful chestnut gelding that allowed her to really develop her skills in Hunter Under Saddle, Showmanship and Western Pleasure.

After graduating from the Port Washington school system in 1991, Shawn attended Cardinal Stritch University, a private Catholic college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“My intention was to find a college that I could commute to so I could stay riding while in college,” she explained. “Cardinal Stritch was a perfect fit for me because of the small community.”

There she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business, something that would serve her well in the years to come, as she and her husband now own and operate Johnson Centrifugal Technologies, a centrifugal casting and forming foundry.

“We are a fourth-generation family-owned business,” Johnson explained. “We manufacture metal components both in cast and wrought alloys.  Our facility is ten minutes from our Wisconsin home.”

Shawn met Lance by chance while having lunch with a friend during the summer of 2001.

“I was working for my parents at their stable at the time and one of my clients convinced me to have lunch in our lakeside town and that’s where I met Lance,” she explained. “We chuckle to this day about how lucky we were to have chosen that day, time, and place for lunch.”

Ironically, Shawn and Lance now live about a half mile from the property she was raised on, just 10 minutes away from Johnson Centrifugal Technologies.

“When I was a little girl I used to ride to this property, against my mom’s wishes, to get to the Lake Michigan beach,” Johnson said. “When we purchased our home, we discovered the actual path I used to ride down to the water on is now our property. I might of been left in a creek or two in my days on this property during my childhood.”

In 2012 Shawn returned to her love of show horses when she purchased Lazy Holla Dayz (Stella), a 2010 bay mare by Lazy Loper and out of Shes On Holiday from Scott and Andrea Rowland.

“Stella is my once in a lifetime horse,” she said. “Anyone that gets to spend time around her falls in love with her disposition.  She is the most honest horse I have ever been blessed to ride.”

Shawn and Stella show under the guidance of Ashley and Kenny Lakins, in Wilmington, Ohio.

In 2016, they were Western Pleasure Champions and Reserve Performance Halter Mares Champions at the AQHA Level 1 East Championship Show and in 2017 they placed third at the AQHA World Championship Show in Level 2 Amateur Western Pleasure. In 2018 Shawn and Stella captured a Reserve Quarter Horse Congress Championship in the Limited Non-Pro Western Pleasure Maturity.

“Shawn is a beautiful rider. She has ridden most of her life so her seat and horsemanship are awesome,” Ashley Lakins said. “She has become a very confident rider. When she came to us you could tell she had a ton of riding talent. She was just not that confident in some of her decisions as rider. I think Shawn has grown into the experienced non-pro we all as trainers love to have. She’s calm and cool when she shows. She makes great decisions. She has been such a blast to help. Kenny and I are so proud of her as a rider.”

That experience has translated into big success in the show pen this year. She started out the year with a win in the Non-Pro Western Pleasure Maturity at the Fun In The Sun Circuit. At the Tom Powers Futurity in, June, Johnson and Stella were Reserve Champions in the Non-Pro Western Pleasure Maturity and they followed that up with a third place in the Non-Pro Western Pleasure Maturity at the National Snaffle Bit Association’s World Championship Show. Last month they claimed a Reserve Congress Championship in the Non-Pro Western Pleasure Maturity and placed third in the Open Division.

“Stella being the horse she is makes showing possible for me for more than one reason,” she said. “As many of us know having a long-distance relationship with your trainer isn’t easy.  I couldn’t ask for a more successful combination than Stella and Lakins Quarter Horses. I can’t say enough about the care she gets and how she is always prepared.  I know it isn’t easy to get a horse ready for someone that rides as little as I have time for. I feel every time I see Stella she has gotten even better.”

Johnson is looking forward to showing Stella in Amateur Western Pleasure at the AQHA World Show this month. She recently purchased a yearling full sister to Stella from Masterson Farms and also has a 2-year-old out of Stella by RL Best Of Sudden that she calls Reagan.

“Reagan shows a lot of Stella’s traits.  She has a huge heart and a lot to give,” Johnson said. “It is going to be so fun to watch what the future is going to be for her.”

When she is not showing, Shawn enjoys spending time traveling with her husband and four step-daughters. Three of them live in California and the youngest is a high school senior attending the University School of Milwaukee.            

            Amateur Profiles are part of InStride Edition’s editorial content. If you know someone who would make a good subject for an amateur profile email Corrine Borton, Editor, at: CorrineBorton@InStrideEdition.com.