<p>Russia's President Vladimir Putin has in the past presented himself sitting proud, bare-chested on a horse, but on Friday he admitted to taking a fall.</p>.<p>The 68-year-old who has been in power in Russia for more than two decades as president or prime minister has carefully cultivated a macho image for years with a series of photo opps.</p>.<p>They include Putin taking a dip in icy waters, riding on horseback topless, throwing opponents on the judo mat, freeing tigers into the wild and swimming butterfly stroke in a river.</p>.<p>"They were once filming me, I was training, and it happened that the horse stopped in front of a barrier and I did a somersault, literally a somersault," Putin was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency on Friday.</p>.<p>He did not say when the incident had happened, but that he had fallen "fairly comfortably" and told a cameraman who was filming to keep the footage.</p>.<p>"(It was) the first time I heard this answer from him: I'll delete it immediately," said Putin.</p>.<p>The Kremlin seldom talks about Putin's health or mishaps.</p>.<p>The Russian leader was alleged to have back trouble in 2012, something that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at the time had stemmed from a bout of judo. The Kremlin declined to commeny.</p>
<p>Russia's President Vladimir Putin has in the past presented himself sitting proud, bare-chested on a horse, but on Friday he admitted to taking a fall.</p>.<p>The 68-year-old who has been in power in Russia for more than two decades as president or prime minister has carefully cultivated a macho image for years with a series of photo opps.</p>.<p>They include Putin taking a dip in icy waters, riding on horseback topless, throwing opponents on the judo mat, freeing tigers into the wild and swimming butterfly stroke in a river.</p>.<p>"They were once filming me, I was training, and it happened that the horse stopped in front of a barrier and I did a somersault, literally a somersault," Putin was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency on Friday.</p>.<p>He did not say when the incident had happened, but that he had fallen "fairly comfortably" and told a cameraman who was filming to keep the footage.</p>.<p>"(It was) the first time I heard this answer from him: I'll delete it immediately," said Putin.</p>.<p>The Kremlin seldom talks about Putin's health or mishaps.</p>.<p>The Russian leader was alleged to have back trouble in 2012, something that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at the time had stemmed from a bout of judo. The Kremlin declined to commeny.</p>