Shawn Cline trains horses the same way she learned to ride them when she was 3 years old - start them young. "As far as I'm concerned, the younger the better," Cline said. "I really believe in groundwork. By the time I go to ride one, and I climb on its back, most of time they don't think twice about it."

The Hot Springs horsewoman said her early training does not include anything that could damage a young horse, such as throwing a heavy saddle on it.

"Kids are like sponges, and so are young horses, and they're not set in their ways," Cline said. "They haven't decided what they like or necessarily dislike yet, so if you make it pleasurable and enjoyable, and you think about their welfare as you teach them, the better off they'll be."

That philosophy of schooling has taken her and her horses to world champion level. Cline, who owns and operates Windance Farms in Custer, and her students have earned 23 world championships and 22 reserve world championships on horses Cline either owns or trains.

She owns Arabian horses and half Arabian horses that are double registered as Pintos, which means the horses have color.

"The Pinto color pattern is either overo or tobiano and is a mix of either white and black or white and buckskin or white and bay," she said.

Paint horses are all Pinto horses that are primarily quarter horses with their own registry.

"A Pinto can be a pony, a big saddlebred horse, or part Arab, like I have. I love the Arabian and half-Arabian horses," she said.

Cline has several world-champion western-pleasure horses and trail horses. "Mine are all show horses, but people do use them for cutting and similar cow disciplines."

In addition to training her own and some outside horses, she gives lessons and clinics and runs a breeding operation.

Her stallion, In Your Dreams SS, is a Pintabian. A Pintabian is a horse with more than 99 percent Arabian blood and tobiano markings that is produced after seven generations of breeding.

His oldest offspring, P.C. Corizon De Blanco, "Orreo," a gelding owned by Susan Haden, in Hot Springs, is already making a name for himself in the show world.

"Shawn has done a really great job with Orreo," Haden said. "This is the second year she has taken him and the first year that he's finished high in performance."

With Cline as the rider, Orreo earned the world-champion title in hunter under saddle junior horse, pleasure-type.

"He was also world-champion western-pleasure junior horse, pleasure type. She and he are an amazing team," Haden said. "Shawn's been doing this for a very long time and knows how to get a horse ready and how to show a horse to world championship."

Cline said there is truth to the old adage that it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. "I get horses in training often that might be 7 or 8 years old and have stood around on pastures. They're big, and that makes them a little intimidating, but that doesn't mean that I'm intimidated."

She said older horses are definitely more challenging, because they now have a set of ideas of what life's about, but they're not impossible. "I find young horse a quicker study."

Cline began riding at 3 when her mother bought her a half-Arab pinto show pony. She lived on a small ranch in Boulder, Colo., and the family rented a small one-bedroom house to a woman named Barb Unrath, who rode dressage and hunter jumper. Unrath became a coach to Cline and gave her riding lessons.

"That showed me what you can do for somebody who has the desire to learn if you take the time," Cline said.

At age 4, she qualified in several divisions at the regional level. When she finished high school, she started training for a large horse farm. She was a performance trainer for Celebration Farms in Omaha for several years. She also studied fine arts at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

In addition to the work she does with horses, she creates three-dimensional metal sculptures as part of her business, Decor by Shawn, in Custer.

Cline has the support of her husband, Ernie, and 15-year-old son Percy, even though they might not share her level of passion. She said both men in her life like to trail ride with her when they can and always encourage her. "Which is amazing because of how much I go and do."

She almost didn't make it to this year's largest Pinto horse show held in June in Tulsa, Okla. A fire the day before Christmas in 2006 destroyed her workshop. She and her parents and a couple of friends worked around the clock to rebuild.

With so much energy spent rebuilding her shop, she thought she would have to miss this year's competition. But at the last minute, she packed up five horses and a small entourage and headed to the show and brought home 17 world championships and reserves.

"I keep our horses worked," she said. "I try to think of them like kids. I want them to know they can count on exercise and to be worked with and to get out."

She said all of her horses have runs and access to free exercise whenever they want.

"None of my horses are locked in stalls. These are things I think are important. They are all worked and always, basically, ready more or less for the show ring." She said it takes years to train her horses to that level.

For the second year in a row, she and her 18-year-old Arabian Pinto mare, PKH Fiesta Magique, who is the mother of her stud, won the title of Pinto Horse Association of America's High Point Pleasure Type. The pair also won 2007 World and Reserve World titles.

"To have accomplished what we did this year was beyond belief. It was really exciting."

She said her all-time favorite horse is her 6-year-old mare called GLF My Lady Luck or "April."

"She is a 16-3 hand national-show horse Pinto mare that has won 11 world championships now. She has two cobalt eyes with the black eyeliner and is just the coolest horse," she said.

Cline also works a lot with youths. Several of them have gone on to win at the national level, such as Sonya Conneley of Custer and Heather Graff of Black Hawk.

Kathy Anderson of Hot Springs said she is amazed at Cline's riding accomplishments and her dedication to teaching others.

"I can't explain how she mentors the kids," Anderson said. "The remarkable part is how she has taught these kids to have such confidence. Shawn has the ability to pass this wonderful talent that she has to other people, children especially. And not to mention what she has done for the adults, too."

Cline said, whether it is her art or her work with horses, she is always challenging herself to do better than she did before.

"I really want to show the Pinto horses out of April and my stallion and have continued success with them," she said.

She said no matter how busy she is, she plans to continue working with youths.

She is currently training 17 head of horses, and they all get worked at least five to six times a week. That's in addition to the five or six hours a day she spends creating her artwork.

"I'm really blessed because I get to do the things that I absolutely love. The horses are just a part of me. It's the fabric of who I am."