Halifax's Toughest Cowboy will take place on June 1 at the Scotiabank Centre

Halifax's Toughest Cowboy will take place on June 1 at the Scotiabank Centre.

The event will see top bull riders from around the world try to hold on for dear life, as the animals try to buck them off.

Michael Lane is one of the professionals who will be participating in the event. He's been riding bulls for over two decades.

"I've done it for 24 years, but I've only been professional for 10 years," he tells NEWS 95.7's The Todd Veinotte Show.

Originally from Virginia, Lane got into bull riding from a brother-in-law who rode as an amateur.

"I went with him and I seen that the little kids started out riding sheep," he says.

Lane's siblings had 4-H sheep for showing in competitions, but he had different idea.

"I went home and decided I didn't want to lead them around, that I wanted to ride them," he says.

So, Lane started riding sheep, or "mutton-busting," as it's called in the industry.

He eventually worked his way up and now competes among the top bull riders in the world.

"I'd be lying if I say that there wasn't nerves," Lane says, "But after doing it for so long, you have to learn how to control those nerves and your fear."

Bull riders are judged on many things to get a score out of 100. Lane says scores in the low 90s are excellent, while mid-80s are average.

"It's determined on how well you do it, are you in control, do you make it look easy?" he says.

Lane's training regimen consists of two hours of UFC fighter training and horse barrel training each day during the week leading up to the event.

But while bull riding may seem like a 'macho' sport, Lane and other top riders also use hot yoga to prevent injuries.

"The hot yoga really helps with your mental and your flexibility and your balance," he says. "So when you do get thrown off, and you land in a hard situation, you may not tear a muscle as easily as some of the other guys."

Lane says bull riding has come a long way since the establishment of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) in 1992.

"Bull riding used to be just a bunch of cowboys that went out in the field and said 'Hey, who can ride this bull?'" he says. "It's grown leaps and bounds to where it's not just cowboys anymore."

Although there are critics, Lane says the sport respects its animals, and the PBR doesn't see a lot of protests on the basis of animal welfare.

"They're taken care of better than us riders. They send these bulls through therapy swimming pools now, use massage guns on them," he adds.

The bulls themselves also have companions on the road, something Lane says many riders don't.

"A lot of times it's just us by ourselves," he syays. "But with the bulls, whatever bull that they're penned with at home, they'll be penned with while they're travelling. That's like their brother, it gives them that comfort of having that same friend at home that they do while they're on the road."

Tickets for the Halifax's Toughest Cowboy competition are on sale now at the Atlantic Box Office, Atlantic Superstore locations, or online starting at $25.