Shad Mayfield Undergoes Surgery That Could Impact 2026 NFR Comeback

Shad Mayfield is fresh out of the Thomas & Mack arena and is set to undergo hip surgery on December 18th to fix an injury that flared up two years ago.

Abigail Dollins/Statesman Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

A former world champion is facing a day that no rodeo athlete wants to see. The 2020 World Champion Tie-Down Roper and 2024 World Champion All-Around Cowboy, Shad Mayfield, has undergone surgery on December 18 to reconstruct his hip more than two years after the injury. 

Fresh off his seventh straight National Finals Rodeo, 25-year-old Mayfield secured the Reserve World Champion title in the tie-down. His injury didn't slow him down at all as he still came home with two round wins. Even though he knew the surgery was coming just five days after the NFR, he still pushed himself to the limit in order to put on the best performance he could.

After taking home $122,620 at this NFR he is now prioritizing the longevity of his career which will sideline for the foreseeable future taking him out of the exclusive winter rodeos like RODEOHOUSTON and San Antonio amongst all of the others. 

What Does His Immediate Future Now Look Like?

Shad Mayfield | Nathan Meyer Photography

The surgery is a big one, taking him out of the sport for at least the next six months, which also puts a damper on his 2026 season. If all goes according to plan, he’ll be back just in time for summer rodeos to begin, but will that be enough to send him back to the Thomas & Mack arena for the eighth straight time?

Mayfield isn’t one to give up easily; he’s forgone this operation for two years in order to keep pushing for a gold buckle, but finally something gave. After a solid first four rounds, Mayfield fell to the bottom of the ranks after his calf got up in Round 5 virtually taking him out of the running for a world title. 

This injury isn’t an easy one, recovery for the cowboy will include hundreds of hours of physical therapy just so he can get back on a horse. Some percentage of the population is unfortunately predisposed to this condition, referred to as femoroacetabular impingement. The short name sometimes used is FAI. 

It’s a sport like rodeo that elevates the condition due to the repetition of movements that make it a recipe for disaster among young athletes. Ultimately, the unfortunate percentage of people affected end up having hips that look like they belong to someone much older. Hence, the major hip surgery Mayfield is now facing. 

Mayfield is seeing Dr. JW Thomas Byrd, who is an expert on these surgeries, seeing more than one rodeo athlete come through his doors with the same condition. When first injured in 2023, Mayfield figured he could shake it off and get back out there, but his condition only worsened as time went on. 

At first, his plan was to undergo surgery in 2024, after being crowned a world champion but instead went for stem-cell, PRP (platelet-rich plasma) and ozone-therapy treatments in order to compete this season. While the surgery wasn’t urgent then, things have changed for the cowboy as this last year on the back of a horse has affected his flexibility in a way he can’t handle anymore. 

Mayfield hopes to be back in the arena by June, but in the meantime the entire rodeo community hopes to see a healthy cowboy back in the saddle. 

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