FORT WORTH, Texas ― It's never fun for a rider to get bucked off one event after another.

And when you're a former World Champion, who expects great things from yourself, it's all the more difficult to deal with.

For Renato Nunes, a perennial Top-10 finisher the past five years, the 2013 season can be described as anything but fun. He's currently ranked 29th in the world standings and it's been a struggle to stay in the Top 30, especially with a career-low 31 percent riding average.

"This year is about how long I'm going to ride on the tour or not."

It's been disappointing and frustrating for Nunes, who turns 33 on Sunday, and he's become increasingly withdrawn in recent months.

"This year is about how long I'm going to ride on the tour or not," Nunes said. "I don't know if it's because I just got too many buckoffs or I don't know. I don't know. I just-maybe I start to ride good and I get excited for a couple more years. I don't know."

However, when asked if he's contemplated retirement this year, he emphatically said, "No."

Then immediately added, "I don't know - maybe - I'll see."

He has only three Top 10 finishes, which is his lowest total since 2006 when he only competed in three Built Ford Tough Series events. It's the first time since 2009 - the year before he won the world title in 2010 - that he hasn't won at least one BFTS event.

There are still nine BFTS events left along with the World Finals and plenty of time to finish strong.

In fact, he's ridden at events here in the U.S. this summer as well as in his native Brazil. Nunes will travel north to Calgary, Canada, to compete in the annual Calgary Stampede.

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"I'm going to keep going like when I was young and get on bulls every week and have fun," said Nunes. "I'm going to keep trying to fix my problem. I am very disappointed the past few weeks. I just bucked off."

Nunes hasn't made the championship round of a BFTS event since March 10 in Tacoma, Wash.

The Buritama, Brazil, native isn't the only rider to experience what is commonly described as a world title hangover.

Justin McBride had surgery following his second world title in 2007 and didn't compete until late in the 2008 season only to shock the bull riding world by announcing his retirement in the prime of his career.

McBride said he no longer had the same passion to compete.

Guilherme Marchi won the title in 2008 and earlier this year admitted he didn't have the same desire to win until midway through the 2012 season.

Like Nunes, the 2009 winner, Kody Lostroh, has labored through ongoing injuries.

However, Lostroh has always contended that he simply loves the sport and doesn't compete merely because of the money.

Bobby Steiner, who was inducted into the Ring of Honor in 2005, didn't compete for the money either.

He was 22 when he won the PRCA title in 1973 and announced his retirement during the winning interview.

"If I retire I'm not going to say I'm retired," Nunes said. "I'm just going to take some time off and I'm going to see how I feel.

"Maybe I get excited to come back."

Follow Keith Ryan Cartwright on Twitter @PBR_KRC.