Eva Mendes has escaped being hurt after she was thrown off a horse during a calendar photo shoot in Italy.

The Hitch actress was being photographed for the 2008 calendar for alcoholic drink Campari when she was bucked by the animal and fell to the ground.

Mendes said: "I didn't get hurt, fortunately, as I have been bucked by a horse several times before so I've got quite good at it.

"I think it's an energy I give off. They don't seem to like me."