PUEBLO, Colo. ― Cody Nance knew his body was in pretty bad shape following the Touring Pro Division event in Gonzales, Texas, two weeks ago. The 25-year-old had gone through a series of vicious wrecks that dislocated two of his ribs, and injured his collarbone and back.

It was one of the first moments this summer where the seemingly unstoppable Built Ford Tough Series rider, who has used a strong TPD run to rise to as high as second in the world standings, felt severely bruised and battered.  

"My ribs are all busted and stuff is out of line," Nance said. "It hurt really bad when I got on the other two bulls (following the long round), and I couldn't even adjust my weight. Even for the bulls just to buck in the bucking chute it hurt.

"It was a pretty rough night."

A rough night has turned into a stint away from bull riding, as Nance works on rehabbing his two dislocated ribs ― a lower one on his left side and an especially painful one on his upper right side.  

Regardless, Nance said there is no doubt he will be ready when the second half of the BFTS resumes on Aug. 16 in Tulsa, Okla.

"Come Tulsa, I'll be ready to go," Nance said. "I'm just going to take it easy until then and get my body ready. I'll be 100 percent."

For the past two weeks, Nance had struggled to pick things up around his home in Paris, Tenn., due to the dreadful pain accompanying his two dislocated ribs. Simple tasks such as bending over and stretching have proven to be tedious.

"I haven't been able to do much," he said. "I couldn't pick anything up, because it felt like somebody was sticking a knife in my chest where that rib was out. I couldn't really stretch or hardly bend over and touch my knees, much less my toes.

"I have been kind of walking around straight up and down, and keeping my good posture, because if I slouch, my back just hurts. I couldn't hardly jog and felt like an old man."

Originally, Nance thought a weekend off following Gonzales would help, but after being doctored out of the past two Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Big Bull Tour events in Grand Junction, Colo., and Fort Myers, Fla., the 2009 Rookie of the Year knew he needed to get his ribs put back into place this week.

It was a feat he was dreading and kept putting off.

"I wasn't going to go any earlier, because I didn't think I could stand them popping it back in yet. I knew he would have to push on my back and for me to be lying flat on my stomach and chest, it sucked.  My chest hurt really bad."

Nance first went for a massage on Tuesday to help re-work the sore muscle tissue in his back around the dislocated ribs. The massage itself wasn't too painful, but even his masseuse was wondering what was going on with his rib.

"Every time she would try and work that area, the rib would just feel like it was loose in there, rolling around," Nance said.

Finally, Nance "worked up the nerve" to get what he knew needed to be done on Thursday. He decided to go to a chiropractor, who was able to put the two ribs back into place.

"He said my back looked like a train wreck and how a train gets something and just drags it all up," Nance said. "That's what my spine looked like with my rib out and everything. He got me lined back and up and I feel a lot better."

Because of his injuries, Nance had to doctor out of Saturday night's TPD event in Livingston, Mont., and because he missed the last two RMEF Big Bull Tour events, he will be ineligible to win the RMEF Big Bull title despite currently sitting atop the leaderboard with 404 points. Riders must compete in at least five of the 10 RMEF Big Bull Tour events to be eligible.

However, with his ribs back in place, Nance's focus now becomes loosening up the muscles that became so tight and sore around his injuries. The left-handed rider, who once had a masseuse compare his back muscles to that of a UFC fighter in Las Vegas, plans on doing yoga and other flexibility training to get back into prime shape.

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He began working out again on Friday.

"I'm not to beat up anymore," he said. "I feel a lot better and I'm going to get back to working out and I'll start doing some yoga and cardio. Then I'll get back at it.

"I can take a deep breath now, but once I get it all the way in, I still feel that muscle being sore back there from that rib being out."

Nance is thankful that he didn't break his ribs in Gonzales after vigorously riding his way back into the world championship conversation over the past two months.

Things could have been much worse.

"I'm very thankful they are not broken," he said. "It's truly a blessing."

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko