Johnny Depp has revealed he narrowly avoided injury after falling from a horse while shooting The Lone Ranger.

The Hollywood heartthrob was working on a scene in the Western, in which he plays native American Tonto, when his horse jumped over some small obstacles and caused him to slip, reports E! News.

He told US chat show host David Letterman: "The horse was unaware that the saddle I was wearing to sit on top of it was sort of jerry-rigged, kind of faked.

"When we came down, the saddle slipped and I went to the left and had the reins here, and somehow had the wherewithal to grab his mane - all very calm for some reason, I figured fear would kick in, but it didn't.

"I saw in front of my eyes these very muscular horse legs and the striations of muscles moving, this kind of death machine. One word popped into my head: hooves. You know? Hooves. In any case, mind the hooves."

The star went on: "Well, you make a decision. Will I go with the beast until someone wrangles it, or will I drop? It's a c***shoot."

Johnny said he let himself fall, and was fine, although he confessed he landed "pretty hard".