Madonna hurt in horse fall

Hurt: Madonna

Nicole Lampert|Daily Mail|Showbusiness Editor

11 April 2012

Madonna was badly hurt when she fell off a horse yesterday while out riding on her 47th birthday.

The singer suffered three cracked ribs, a broken collarbone and a fractured hand.

Her spokesman said she had been 'pretty banged about' by the fall from the mount, which she was not used to handling.

The accident happened at her 1,200-acre country home Ashcombe House in Wiltshire, where she had been celebrating her birthday with her husband, director Guy Ritchie, their son Rocco, five, and her daughter Lourdes, eight, from a previous relationship.

The star, who flew into England on Monday from Los Angeles, was riding with an assistant and her children are not thought to have seen the accident.

She was taken for treatment at Salisbury District Hospital and released early yesterday evening. Her spokesman Barbara Charone said: 'Madonna fell off a new horse she was riding late this afternoon.

'She sustained three cracked ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken hand.'

Her American spokesman Liz Rosenberg added: 'She was riding a new horse, not her regular horse. She did suffer a few breaks, so she's pretty banged about, obviously.'

There was speculation last night that her accident may hamper her plans to bring out her album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, which is due for release in just over two months.

While her ribs should heal in about six weeks, the broken collarbone will take eight to 12 weeks to get better, an expert said last night.

Leela Biant, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, said the star was unlikely to need surgery but won't be able to dance again for several months

'You don't treat broken ribs, they heal by themselves,' she said. 'But people are encouraged to take deep breaths because the lung underneath can be bruised and it can leave you a bit more susceptible to chest infections if you don't breathe deeply.

'The fact that Madonna is very fit and healthy will help her recovery and because she does a lot of yoga she will be used to deep breathing.

'It will be more painful than taking small, shallow breaths, because it moves the ribs more but it is important.

'Broken collarbones usually heal by themselves as well - only a few per cent of people need an operation. She's not going to want to put her arm above the level of her shoulder so she won't be able to reach up. And she won't be on her horse again for three months.'

The £10million Ashcombe Houseestate - former home of the society photographer Cecil Beaton - was bought by Madonna and her husband, 36, three years ago.

In one of her many reinventions, the American star has turned herself into an 'English country wife'.

She posed for a series of pictures at Ashcombe, including scenes of her feeding chickens in the garden.

She recently started riding at the Stag Lodge Stables in Richmond Park, South-West London. A worker there said last night: 'When Madonna comes for her lessons she is really polite and sweet.

'You would think someone like her wouldn't like being told what to do but she does everything her instructors tell her to. She's desperate to learn.

'But she is an inexperienced rider and if the animal is quite frisky it is difficult to control if you don't know what you are doing.'

When she started to learn, Madonna hired the whole of the family-run riding school for one day so she could practise away from prying eyes.

The worker added: 'We thought when she did that she would be a real diva. But she wasn't. She was a lovely student who just wanted to learn to ride.'

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