MERRITT, British Columbia ― Zane Lambert checked in with PBR.com earlier this month to discuss how he got started as a bull rider, his success in Canada, as well as his goals on the Built Ford Tough Series.

TS: Where did you grow up, Zane?

Lambert: "I grew up in Manitoba. Went through high school rodeos and then went through CCA (Canadian Cowboys Association) rodeos through Saskatchewan, MRCA’s (Manitoba Rodeo Cowboys Association), then I moved right on up and starting hitting pro rodeos when I turned 18. I pulled my permit, filled it, started going to PBRs right since I turned 18. I've just slowly been climbing my way up through the PBR Canada ranks and find myself now just getting warmed up in the PBR Built Ford Tough standings. I’m sitting 24th right now coming off the break, so hopefully keep these summer ones keep going pretty good and hopefully (I'll) climb up in the Top 15. (That's) the goal for this year."

TS: You’ve been to the World Finals a couple times before already even though you haven’t been on tour an entire year yet.

Lambert: "Yeah, I was an alternate there last year. I got in there the last day and then I also got in there three other times as the Canadian representative going from Canada. So, I’ve been to the World Finals, I think, three times now. This time, it looks like I’ll hopefully qualify for the World Standings and the Top 35 and make it count this year."

TS: Let’s talk about your family and how they’re involved in rodeo, or how they got you involved in the first place.

Lambert: "My whole family high school rodeoed. I think that was a really big incentive for us in Manitoba. High school rodeo was strong and (I) went to Nationals and really got the feel for it. I think that was really when it kind of got attracted to me in high school rodeo, and I saw that you can do it for a living and all that stuff. And you know, my family helped travel to all the high school rodeos and Dad took me around to a ton of steer ridings before I was 16, and didn’t have my license. We were travelling six, sevent hours a weekend when I was in grade Ssx, you know. So, without him, I wouldn’t be here now. He put a lot of the groundwork in with me when I was young, so dad helped me get where I am now."

Zane Lambert puts up 87.25 points on Prince Albert at the Des Moines Invitational.

TS: Let’s talk about now. Stacey is travelling with you quite a bit. You guys just got married last April.

Lambert: "Yeah, she’s just awesome. I’ve got a wife here now and we’ve been together four (or) five years now so, yeah, she’s great. She helps me work on stuff and you know she’s gone to more bull ridings than most men, so she knows what I do and when I do stuff wrong what I’m talking about. She’s really supportive of it. She remembers some of the bulls that I’ve got on before I do. She says, ‘Oh, you got on him here, or there, so she’s always supportive and helps me get down the road, feeds me, and keeps me healthy."

TS: Let’s talk about having two other Canadians on the Built Ford Tough Series Tour right now. It’s a pretty big deal. How’s it feel to be right there?

Lambert: “Yeah, it’s nice to have them three guys. We’ve been really tight our whole life growing up. I mean, I’m a little bit older than those guys, but I watched them grow up with me. Tanner Byrne and Ty Pozzobon are both young guys that I really like and get along with excellent. So, it’s really cool. We kinda got a little family going down the road there with them. It’s really neat to watch them grow all the way through what they’ve done. All the way from steer riders right on through to now, they’re whoopin’ my ass. So, it’s pretty cool to see. Pretty cool to have those guys in your corner. When you go down there, you’ve kind of got your Brazilians that hang out and you’ve got your Americans that kind of have their cliques, so we’ve kind of got our Canadian group now. So it’s good, it’s comfortable. We’re getting a little more comfortable in there, so we’re making a stand."

TS: What’s your biggest accomplishment in your career so far? I would guess it’d have to be last year in Saskatoon.

Lambert: "Yeah, the PBR Canadian Championship was a long time coming. I’ve got second three years in a row, so I guess for my biggest accomplishment, I really had to put everything aside and really drive forward. When you do that, it just means that much more to you. I finally got that win, so it feels really good. That’s probably my biggest accomplishment."

TS: So, with that being your biggest accomplishment, what are you driven to do this year? You’ve already talked about being in the Top 15 in the PBR in the world standings going into the summer.

Lambert: "Yeah, that’s just it right now. I’m looking at the Canadian standings and I wanna climb up there a little bit. I wanna keep those standings up, but really go and take it to the next step and keep those standings up. I feel like I’ve conquered it, so I never want to go down in the standings from one year to the next. So I’m just gonna keep working on it and climb up the world standings now. Hopefully, I can get right to the top of them in the next couple of years.”

TS: Good luck, Zane. Thanks for spending some time with us.

Lambert: "Thanks."

Follow Ted Stovin on Twitter at @TedStovin.