FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009 file photo, Madonna arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar party , in West Hollywood, Calif. Madonna has taken a tumble while horseback riding in New York's Hamptons and has suffered 'minor injuries' and bruises. A spokeswoman says the pop star fell Saturday afternoon when the horse was startled by paparazzi who 'jumped out of the bushes' to photograph her. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)Associated Press
NEW YORK - Madonna is under the care of doctors after falling off a horse over the weekend an accident she is blaming on the paparazzi.
A representative for the superstar said Madonna suffered "minor injuries" after she fell while horseback riding in the Hamptons, a playground for the rich and famous on the eastern end of Long Island, N.Y.
"The accident occurred when the horse Madonna was riding was startled by paparazzi who jumped out of the bushes to photograph the singer, who was visiting friends," Liz Rosenberg said in a statement Saturday evening.
The 50-year-old singer was treated at a Southampton hospital and released, and is being monitored by doctors, Rosenberg said. No other information was released and a request for additional comment was not immediately returned Sunday morning.
It was unclear whether the incident happened on private property and whether photographers were trespassing in the incident; Southampton police did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment Sunday morning.
This is not the first time Madonna has been injured riding a horse. She was thrown from a horse in England in the summer of 2005, cracking three ribs and breaking her collarbone and a hand in that accident.
She saddled up again a couple of months later, when she was a guest the "Late Show with David Letterman " on CBS. She and the talk show's host rode their horses outside his Manhattan studio. She said it was the first time since her fall that she had been back in the saddle.
"I have a bit of excitement tainted with fear," she said then before climbing on.
She also said she hadn't been back on a horse since that fall "because my record company is not very keen on the idea of me injuring myself."
This is latest setback for Madonna. Earlier this month, a judge in Malawi denied her request to adopt a 3-year-old girl from the southern African country. Madonna, who adopted son David there, has said she will appeal the ruling.
