Verity Smith: double act

Unlike Roy Rogers, Verity Smith doesn’t actually sing while on horseback. But in answering our ten questions, the dressage rider cum singer/songwriter tells us that she pursues both activities with equal passion. She also talks about how supermarkets can ruin her salad nicoise and why she goes fruit picking in the dark.

Horses or music?
They’re interdependent passions. They’re so in my soul, one can’t exist without the other. I couldn’t give up one.

What do you most enjoy about dressage?
When I’m riding a horse, my feet don’t touch the ground, it’s like flying. Everything falls away from me. And the great thing about dressage is that it doesn’t matter a damn that I can’t see. So it gives me the opportunity to compete on a completely level playing field.

How do other competitors react to you as a blind rider?
Normally people don’t know, because I don’t have any concessions, and then I’ve beaten them and I go, “Hey, I can’t see”. But it’s not really considered.

What’s the funniest thing anyone has ever said about you and your impairment?
When I got my latest guide dog, I was standing at a bus stop with him and this lovely elderly lady said to me, “How does the dog know which bus to catch?” I said, well, he can only read up to 9 but gets a bit confused with numbers that go above that. She promised to tell me when the number 19 came.

What makes you angry?
When supermarkets re-shuffle their shelves. I’m so sick of buying cat food instead of tuna: it doesn’t go so well in a salad nicoise.

What one thing would you do to improve the lives of disabled people?
Ban steps and introduce custodial sentences for do-gooders.

Who’s your favourite disabled person of all time?
Stevie Wonder, a hugely iconic character for me.

Do you have any special or hidden talents?
I can roll sushi with my elbow and I’m a very good blackberry tickler. I can pick blackberries in the dark by tickling the bushes.

How would you sum yourself up in ten words or less?
I asked my mum because it’s a bit weird talking about yourself. Her first word was “Exhausting”. I’m determined, optimistic, enthusiastic and I’d like to think I was kind.

What three things do you never go anywhere without?
Dog poop bags, lip gloss and a Dictaphone.

• For more info on Verity Smith and her upcoming charity gigs, visit thegirlwhoneverlookeddown.blogspot.com