Team Ropers Take Over Social Media With Reactions to Header's Unbelievable Post

The rodeo world is small and even smaller on social media. Information and posts travel incredibly fast. Doug Arnew learned this in a very quick way as he appeared to go viral overnight after a controversial post.

Maddy Dickens | Mar 14, 2025

Clay Smith and Coleby Payne / FWSSR photo by James Phifer

Social media can easily become one of the most unforgiving places if it is used incorrectly. When you put something out on the internet there is no going back, even if you want to!

Doug Arnew, a 65-year-old team roper went viral quickly after a post he made on Facebook. (See Post Below) Everybody who has team roped or done anything in a team aspect understands how frustrating the relationship can be. But, how is one suppose to handle that frustration?

Doug Arnew's Facebook

To the world, Arnew appeared to be looking for a heeler better than the ones he was roping with. He believed that he was deserving of a more consistent partner. Regardless of this being true or not, the way it was displayed was distasteful for nearly everyone that read it.

However, was the backlash he received fitting to the post? The problem with social media is that no matter what his intentions were, there can't be much positive that comes from a use of Facebook in the way that he did.

In the interest of playing devils advocate there is a learning curve for the older generation when using social media. Reading Arnew's post there is clear emotion that he was trying to get across and maybe he made a post while feeling frustrated.

It is also interesting to consider that even if he does stand behind the post whole-heartedly, why does anybody feel the right to look down upon him and bash him all over social media? The amount of jokes and cheap shots Arnew took following this post were too many to count.

In an effort to set the record straight, Jordan Weaver from The Flatbed Podcast reached out to Arnew for some clarification. In the interview Arnew claimed that his intentions were never to put anyone down or even to change partners. He said that he wanted people who didn't know him to know that he could catch so that they might consider him as a partner.

Arnew apparently is a really good sport. He recently took to Facebook to make a joke about it in the same forum he made the original post. Many had been asking the next time he was going to be competing was.

In good fun Arnew replied to everybody to let them know he would be competing this coming weekend and for people to come watch. "...come on out and make a run or make some fun if I miss. No worries. Bring your Bar-B-Q pit and enjoy a great day of roping..." his post says.

Without knowing Arnew, it seems that his intentions were not malicious. It is just clear that social media can be relentless. This situation also showed some insight on maybe taking a joke too far.

Everyone has a right to free speech and expressing their feelings. Let's just agree that one post doesn't necessarily show someone in their entirety.

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