Who is Ty Murray?

Most likely you have already heard the name of Ty Murray. You've probably witnessed him on this seasons "Dancing With the Stars", where he is partnered up with professional dancer, Chelsie Hightower.

But long before that, Ty was already making a name for himself. Afterall, he is a World-Champion rodeo cowboy, having won the title, nine times. Ty is also a board adviser and co-founder of Professional Bull Riders. He and Jewel, his longtime girlfriend, married in the Bahamas on August 7, 2008. Together they live on a 2,200 acre ranch outside Stephenville, Texas (my hometown).

Ty was born on October 11, 1969. His father Butch also participated in the rodeo circuit as a rodeo hand, while his mother Joy, was discovered as a young rider in a National Rodeo Association. His sisters are named Kim and Kerri. Ty knew from an early age that he wanted to be a rodeo champion, and at the age of two was already learning the fundamentals. Ty was 5 when he won his first buckle, and at the age of 9, rode his very first bull. Of course, he won the bull riding competition. With a broken jaw he later competed and won his very first Junior Rodeo Championship. After that Ty won nine years in a row. He also carried the Arizona All-Around Junior Rodeo Championship. As you can see he was well on his way to achieving anything he set his mind to.

Later he went on to win the All-Around title at the Arizona National High School during Rodeo Association events. Later he went to college at Odessa College where he not only competed in Rodeo for the College, but made the Dean's List. At 18, he joined the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He even made the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest PRCA All-Around Rodeo Cowboy.

Ty won the World All-Around Championship title seven times in the years of 1989-1994, 1998) and was the top money earner in saddle bronc, bareback, and bull riding events. No one else since or ever, has won that many "All-Around Cowboy" titles. After that Ty won the PRCA World Bull Riding Championship title in 1993 and 1998. That's a total of nine Championship titles for Ty. Count them, nine.

Ty later tore something in his knees and both were reconstructed in 1995. During that time he took a year off from Rodeo. This is when he purchased his ranch in Stephenville, Texas (nice place). He was to return to the Rodeo in 1996, when his shoulder was damaged in a bull ride. He had surgery, taking another year off to recover. Though his time-off cost him a sponsorship his comeback in 1997 was huge. He broke his shoulder at another event and was forced to take another year off. By this time he had taken 3 years off from the Rodeo. It was 1998 when he won the PRCA-All-Around Championship, this was the seventh time. He also garnered a second PRCA World Champion Bull Rider title.

So, how did he meet Jewel? Well Jewel's father was actually an Alaskan All-Around Rodeo Champion. They didn't marry until 2008, on the beach in the Bahamas. The happy couple wrote the hit song "Til We Run Out Of Road", the song is said to be about Ty and Cody Lambert. Jewel also wrote a song called "Stephenville, TX".

In the years of 1999, 2000, and 2001 Murray was also the reserve world champion bull rider in the PBR. It was 2002 when Murray decided to retire from the rodeo.

Did you know? Ty was good friends with Lane Frost and witnessed him dying in the arena. This affected him but he did not give up, and went on to become "King of the Cowboys". He is now the president of (PBR) Professional Bull Riders, when he took over role of president after Tuff Hedeman left in 2004.

It was on this TV show that he taught nine celebrities how to cowboy up in various bull riding knowledge, complete with challenges. People like Vanilla Ice (aka Robert van Winkle), Stephen Baldwin (the actor, of course), Leif Garrett, Francesco Quinn (actor), Rocket Ismail (Professional footballer), Johnny Fairplay (Survivor), Danny Lee Clark (American Gladiators), Josh Haynes (Ultimate Fighter/martial artist) and Kenny Bartram (Motocross rider) learned how to rodeo with Ty and Cody Lambert teaching them the techniques. The show made aware of just how hard it is to rodeo, and how being the biggest didn't mean you were tough enough, and the discipline involved in rodeo showed to be difficult for many of the competitors. In the competition the contenders learned to work together as a team. It was Johnny Fairplay who won first place with 8.1 seconds. Everyone but Leif, was given belt buckles for hanging tough. Second place on time, was Dan Clark, with 6.9 seconds on a bull. Vanilla Ice made it for 4.4 seconds, and the bull stepped on his knee. Kenny's hand was stomped, Rocket only made it 3.9 seconds. Rocket made it 3.9. Hopefully this show will return back on VH1.

Ty apparently knows how to focus on the prize at hand, with all he has already accomplished in life. Be sure to check Ty and Chelsie Hightower on 'Dancing With the Stars" every Monday, and don't forget to vote for them!

Article Sources:
Ty's Bull Riding TV Show info.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ty_Murray%E2%80%99s_Celebrity_Bull_Riding_Challenge. Ty Murray: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0615312/.