The Perfect “Promposal” For A Horse Girl’s Heart

By Delores Kuhlwein

At the April IQHYA Show at the C Bar C in Cloverdale, Indiana, a young man just may have set the ultimate horse loving girl prom proposal precedence for the way he proposed to his future prom date!

It all happened Thursday April 13, 2023, after the Rookie/Level 1/Novice Youth Western Pleasure class.

Payton Barger, boyfriend of Lola James, surprised her in the arena with a proposal asking if she would go to prom with him. Though the two had been seeing each other for almost six months, he completely caught Lola by surprise.

“My reaction was just pure excitement and I was in awe. I think my heart grew two sizes and still to this day, I am smiling about it,” says Lola.

He presented her with flowers and a sign that said, “I know you’re showing, but let me show you off at prom?”  He replaced the letter “U” with horseshoes, and the color he used for the word “Prom” was in blue, the color of Lola’s beautiful blue dress she had already chosen.  “It is quite adorable,” Lola explains, whose answer, of course, was yes.

It might come as no surprise Payton had a little help pulling off such a big caper. He knew how important teamwork is as a future student and football player at Saint Mary of the Woods College (SMWC), where he will be attending in the fall on a full ride football scholarship.

So he involved others, starting with Lola’s mom, Candace James, who communicated with Payton all week and everyone else who needed to be in the know. Lola’s trainers, Kelsey Tumey and Jess Haines of Erudite Performance Horses, Lola explains, helped keep the secret and kept her focused on the show.

“Lastly, Kathy Avolt and the whole An Equine Production team worked with my mom to keep him hidden in the office for 2 hours!” says Lola.

Their prom is set for Friday, April 28^th, and plans are already in the making.  Since Lola will be showing both Level One 14-18 and Rookie Youth Western Pleasure at Level One East Championships the morning of prom, she’ll get her nails and spray tan done at the horse show.

“After I’m done showing that morning, being three hours away, I will drive back home with enough time to get my hair done, get ready, go out to eat and head to prom and dance the night away! Then after prom is over I will be driving back up to show Rookie Youth Showmanship at 8:00 in the morning the next day!”

Lola says as a little girl, she had always dreamed of and couldn’t wait to attend her first prom.  “I actually jokingly told Payton that even though we are dating I was not going to prom with him unless he asked me! So he and my mom took it literally and gave me my PERFECT PROMPOSAL!”

 

Have a great time, you two, and we are looking forward to seeing those prom photos!