Romeo the wonder pony can't resist high-tech EarPods says MINDY HAMMOND

“What’s that Zander?” I asked him.

“Huh? EarPods,” he told me.

“What are they?”

“You’re kidding?” “No, what are they?” “Here” he said, handing one over.

“Wow! That’s amazing.” Zander recovered from his laughter.

“How do you not know about EarPods?” he asked.

“Perhaps because I’m old?” I told him.

“Can you answer the phone with them as well?”

Zander rolled his eyes as Izzy sighed, “She is quite old, bless her.”

I was getting excited. “Where do you get them from?”

“Apple, among others… you should get a pair.”

Richard harrumphed from the front seat, “No she shouldn’t, she’ll only lose them.”

Of course I should. I’ve tried several Bluetooth headsets in the past, but this new, completely wireless and stereo thing was a marvel.

The following day I ordered a pair and they were in my hands by the end of the week.

I placed them in my ears, which felt surprisingly uncomfortable.

Then I found my glasses and discovered they have a tiny “L” and “R” on them. I swapped them over and prepared for the moment of truth – and lo, a mechanical chirp sounded.

When I turned on my talking book it almost blew my mind. I could even turn the volume up to max and hear my stories when driving the noisy muck truck.

Better yet, if anyone called, I didn’t have to stop what I was doing (very useful if you happen to be leading horses or herding ducks at the time).

With my current regency romance playing in my ears I didn’t worry about the rainstorm thundering overhead.

I could enjoy my story while making the ponies comfortable for a day indoors. I started with Romeo, the wonder pony’s stable, while listening intently to a particularly racy chapter.

An outrageous rake had fallen for “a diamond of the first water” who had escaped his clutches but was about to be caught. Romeo had been monitoring my progress and shadowing my every move, but I was so engrossed with the job at hand and book in ear, I didn’t notice him sidling up.

Just as I threw a forkful of shavings in the air, his desperation to get my attention overwhelmed him. He nudged the side of my head quite roughly with his nose, my hat flew off and my ears went silent.

No! I gave him a pat and gently asked him to walk back.

As he’s so good, he did as I asked, then stood looking quizzically at me as I scanned the floor searching for my precious white ear thingy.

I carefully scraped every last flake from the floor, but it wasn’t there. Oh no! Was it in with the muck?

The thought made my stomach churn slightly, but I had to investigate. I carried the bucket out and carefully spread the contents into the back of the truck.

Then I had an idea. The other ear thingy talks to its friend when they’re close enough, so all I had to do was waft the remaining one around with the volume turned up and listen for signs of life. But the muck didn’t speak, so I returned to the scene of the crime.

With Romeo’s nose at my shoulder I knelt on the floor, holding the ear thing between my fingers and passing it over the bank of shavings in the corner of his stable.

I was about to give up, when I heard, “How dare you be so presumptuous.” Success.

The other one was in there, I just had to dig it out.

Unfortunately, Romeo’s inquisitive nature was getting the better of him and it became a race to see who would get to the EarPod first, my hands, or his hoof, but after several fraught minutes, as the speech faded and resumed, I finally retrieved my little friend.

Dusty but safe. Little “R” stopped working for a bit shortly afterwards, but after some very careful cleaning with Blu Tack (no really, Google says), I’m back in stereo.

I haven’t shared the experience with my presumptuous husband Mr H… I daren’t encourage him!