Four-time and reigning bareback riding world champion Bobby Mote was scheduled for surgery Tuesday to repair a sports hernia – a hernia in the abdominal region just above the groin.

It’s an ailment Mote has suffered with since last summer, yet he rode through the pain in through the latter half of the season – including those tough 10 days at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo – to win another world title. Now he expects to be out of competition for at least a month, according to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

“This is the type of injury that if you don’t get it taken care of can be career-threatening,” Mote told the Odessa (Texas) American. “I’m going to the top doctor in the country for this surgery, so I feel pretty good about it.”

It’s great that a champion is doing what he can to chase another gold buckle, but it is further proof to the toughness of these cowboys. While most professional athletes would’ve had the surgery midway through their regular season, Mote continued to play his game.

And he won his fourth world title because of it.