LOS ANGELES, Dec 24 (Reuters) California Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger broke his leg while skiing with his family in Sun Valley, Idaho, the governor's office said.

The 59-year-old former movie star broke the femur bone in his right leg yesterday and was taken to a local hospital for X-rays and later discharged, Adam Mendelsohn, the governor's deputy chief of staff for communications, said in a statement.

''When the governor returns to Los Angeles from his scheduled Christmas trip, he will have surgery to repair his femur. No one else was involved in the skiing accident,'' Mendelsohn's statement said.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Julie Soderlund said she did not know how the governor hurt his leg. She said he was skiing at the time with family members who were not identified.

Schwarzenegger is in Idaho with his wife, Maria Shriver, and their four children, Soderlund said.

''The governor's doing great, and he's looking forward to spending the Christmas holiday with his family,'' Soderlund said by telephone last night.

Soderlund said Schwarzenegger was not in a cast but was resting at his Sun Valley home. She said she did not know when the governor would undergo surgery.

The femur is the longest bone in the human body.

Schwarzenegger, a native of Austria, is an ''experienced skier,'' Soderlund said.

This was the governor's third medical incident in just over a year.

In January, he got 15 stitches to close a cut lip after colliding with a car while riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Los Angeles.

Last December, Schwarzenegger was examined at the University of California-Davis Medical Center for stomach flu and a rapid heartbeat. He was back at work the next day.

Schwarzenegger underwent heart surgery in 1997.

REUTERS SSC HT1255