YIKES Claire!!! That must have been some spasm! But I know just how extreme back pain can be, when I was still at Heathfield, my back went into spasm and I could barely move for nearly a month. It was four months before I could ride again. If I tried to turn over in bed, I would wake husband Norman and myself yelling out in pain!
So be careful! Having not ridden for three months due to getting this book ready for publishing, I need to tone up again- once you get to my age, forget the nine months, three is all it takes to get out of shape

!!- I am going to start Pilates. There is a Pilates teacher in Ashburton who is a rider and does one to one sessions for riders, being a lifelong rider herself! So I am going to make time to do this, and also get myself fitter again! Oh to be even ten years younger!
Re the new saddles, I should have the final sample here for approval by the end of the week. This is only the synthetic version- it is cheaper to do r and d in synthetic, and we wanted the synthetic version first in many respects, as it is such a good price!