Madonna has escaped with just cuts and bruises after she was thrown to the ground by a horse she was riding.

The Material Girl was admitted to Southampton Hospital in New York immediately after the accident, which happened after the horse was startled by paparazzi who jumped out of bushes to snap the singer.

Her spokeswoman Liz Rosenburg said she was taken to hospital after the fall at her photographer friend Steven Klein's Bridgehampton farm, where she had been visiting with boyfriend Jesus Luz, but was later released.

The star has previously broken three ribs, a hand and her collar bone in an equestrian accident in 2005.