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Now that the scrappy urban tramp of old is a preening member of the equestrian landed gentry, it was only a matter of time before Madonna suffer the consequences: three cracked ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken hand.
“Madonna fell off a new horse she was riding at Ashcombe House, her country house outside of London,” spokeswoman Barbara Charone said.
Madonna’s house has a name.
“The star was celebrating her 47th birthday with her husband, film director Guy Ritchie, and her two children, Lourdes and Rocco,” Charone elaborated.
US spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said, “She’s spent a lot of time riding when she’s out in the country.”
Will the accident disrupt plans to promote her next album, Confessions On a Dancefloor, due in November? Rosenberg said, “She’s walking and talking. I don’t know if she’s going to be hanging from a disco ball anytime soon.”
For an article in Vogue last month, Madonna discussed her tweedy lifestyle on the 1,200 acre estate, which she and Ritchie bought in 2001. “We just fell in love with it. In the summertime it’s the most beautiful place in the world … I go for lots of long walks, ride my bike. It’s a very physical place, a place for adventure. You can choose to go there to work in a very undistracted way and a very contemplative way, or you can go there and get lost in the environment. 
“I always feel really melancholic when I’m driving away. I think if you’re a photographer, if you’re a painter, if you’re a writer it’s the perfect place to be. You feel protected because you’re sunk into that valley, and as far as the eye can see you can’t see another house. It’s a kind of buffer against the world.”
Until you fall off your horse.
