In 2014, Paige Murray met her husband, 9 time World Champion Cowboy Ty Murray, at a national rodeo competition. She was working as a television reporter, and he was serving as a broadcast analyst. More than a decade later, Paige and Ty are raising their family on a working ranch full of animals which inspired her new children’s book, Rosie’s Wild Ride: Chasing Big Rodeo Dreams.
Paige’s daughter Oakley (6) is featured in her author debut; she is also stepmom to Kase, 13 (Ty’s son with the musician, Jewel). Besides their two kids, the Murray’s ranch is full of and surrounded by animals—lots of them.
“We own a cow-calf operation and have 300 mama cows and calves and 11 bulls. We have 6 horses, 3 donkeys, a mini horse, 2 goats, 2 peafowl, 2 turkeys, 3 guinea birds, a bunch of chickens, 3 rabbits, 5 cats, 3 dogs, a rat and a hamster,” shares Paige.
With a degree from Clemson in Animal Science, a home surrounded by animals while raising kids was a dream. “I feel like owning pets and living on a ranch is so special for our children. They learn so many life lessons including love, responsibility, compassion, work ethic, play, companionship, the circle of life and death, how to handle grief, respect for Mother Nature and so much more,” says Paige.
She shares more below in this week’s Meet a Mom interview:
What’s a typical day like for you?
I feel like I live in heaven on earth. I know the Western way of life is very romanticized in movies, but cowboys and ranchers choose this life because of the love they have for this way of life. It’s such a beautiful way of life and offers so many rich life experiences that money can’t buy.
We wake up with Oakley at 6 a.m.and have coffee and breakfast as a family. Then we go feed the funny farm. We have an amazing ranch manager who worked here before Ty bought the ranch about 30 years ago. He feeds the cattle and horses and takes care of the upkeep on the land. I get Oakley to school and then get in my workout or run on the ranch with the dogs. Then depending on the day, we ride horses or I take care of house chores, write, check emails, work on social media, have lunch with Ty and then it’s time to pick Oakley up from school.
We have soccer, dance or riding lessons some days and on other days we hike on the ranch, ride the 4-wheeler looking for sheds, go fishing, clean out the chicken coop, or just different actives we enjoy outside!
You’re certainly living an authentic ranch life—with your own cowboy! Was Ty involved in this new book?
Yes! Ty was instrumental in helping ensure this book accurately depicted rodeo and ranching in the illustrations. He has an eagle-eye and pointed out the smallest details most people wouldn’t even give a second glance.
Can you tell us about your early love of animals?
I wanted to be a veterinarian since I was in first grade. I worked as a vet tech after college graduation but ultimately decided to pursue a career in broadcast journalism/tv hosting instead of going to vet school. I’m so thankful my passion for animals and broadcast overlapped and I was hired as a behind the chutes rodeo reporter for Fox Sports!
So how did this beautiful book come about?
I have always loved to write and knew one day I wanted to pursue writing a book. Once Oakley was born, I became immersed in children’s picture books. I began to think of all the important lessons learned growing up on a ranch and how the adventures on the ranch are so fun for kids to hear about.
My husband bought our Clydesdale, Rosie for Oakley and me because they are known as gentle giants. However, Clydesdales are really known to pull things, not to be ridden. So, I started thinking about what it would be like for her to be around all these ranch horses and to be so different.
What is the message you’re hoping to get across with this book?
I really hope to inspire kids to dream big. I know that sounds cliche but it’s so important. The theme of Dreaming Big came from a real-life interaction with Oakley, who was 3.5 when I was writing this story. We were at the round pen one day and she wanted to get on Rosie by herself. I asked, “Do you think you can get on that big horse all by yourself?” She said, “What if I can.”
I thought that was so beautiful and really showed the human spirit before we became aware of the shame and embarrassment that accompanies failure. Oakley was filled with wonder and curiosity instead of self-doubt and I thought that was an important lesson for us all and I’m so glad that line “What if I Can?” was so prevalent in “Rosie’s Wild Ride.”
What’s next for you?
I’m so enjoying promoting “Rosie’s Wild Ride” by reading at schools or having book signings at events. Right now, I’m waiting on the full color illustrations to come through for my next children’s picture book, “Rosie’s Ranch Rescue” to be released October 7th, 2025. The illustrator for the Rosie series is Kristen Humphrey and she is amazing. A third Christmas book in the Rosie series will also be coming in fall of 2026. I’ve got other stories I’m working on so we will see what comes to light but it’s all so wonderful and a dream come true. I needed this passion while being a stay-at-home mom!
Anything else you’d like to share?
Thank you to everyone who has supported Rosie and the whole team at Zonderkidz for believing in me! You can read more about the real-life characters and find the “Rosie’s Wild Ride” free activity kid on my website www.bootsandbiscuits.com/rosieswildride It’s so fun to see all the comments and posts and I appreciate it so much!
This post originally appeared on The Local Moms Network.
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