Paris Hilton thrown from horse, injured in taping ‘Simple Life 2’

Paris Hilton was hospitalized Friday after a horse she was riding threw her off and kicked her in the stomach during the taping of “The Simple Life 2,” a reality show featuring the hotel heiress and a friend on a 30-day cross-country trip.

Hilton, 23, was first treated at the scene in rural Florida north of Tampa, then taken to a hospital, said Chris Alexander, publicist for 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles.

The kick to the stomach left her bruised, but she was not seriously injured, said St. Joseph’s Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Patterson. Hilton was released about three hours after she was brought in and was never admitted to the hospital, she said.

Hilton was able to walk around immediately after the accident, Alexander said.

Camera crews were taping the socialite-turned-TV star when she was thrown, Alexander said.

The sequel to “The Simple Life” features Hilton and Nicole Richie on a monthlong cross-country trip with no money, credit cards, cell phones or boyfriends. The show is set to hit Fox in June.

Hilton, the leggy blonde hotel heiress, and Richie, daughter of singer Lionel Richie, helped make the first season of “The Simple Life” a huge success for Fox.

The young women appeared to break free from their sheltered upbringings, working odd jobs milking cows and hawking burgers at a fast-food restaurant while living with a family in ultra-rural Altus, Ark., population 817.