Do any of you wear glasses when riding/competing?

as sweet as hunni

as sweet as hunni

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So I've always been told no to wearing glasses(mum!) but I'm hoping to more dressage this summer, the only downfall is I can't see the blooming letters because I wear glasses 50% of the time! I was generally ok on my 1st dressage test last year but struggled to see and had to play by luck, I wouldn't wear contacts, so can you/are you aloud to wear glasses when riding/'dressaging'? I'm ok jumping which is why I have stuck to that most the time!
 
Of course you're allowed to wear glasses when riding/competing, whyever not? I usually wear my glasses to ride, except in winter sometimes when riding indoors they can fog up lol So then if I'm planning to ride indoors, I wear disposable lenses (Dailies). Have you never tried these? You can just buy a box (or two if your eye prescription is radically different left and right) and just use them for the odd occasion, or competition.
 
Nothing to stop you if you're comfortable doing so. Personally I always ride in my contacts because my eyesight is dreadful meaning my glasses weigh a tonne and hurt my ears and I don't like having restricted peripheral vision, but that's just my preference
 
I am shortsighted and always thought wearing glasses when riding was not a good idea for safety reasons. When hacking out with my friend it became a source of amusement that she would frequently point out a deer/herd of deer/fox/person ahead that we knew, and I couldn't see or recognise a thing. I now have glasses with a flexi frame and wish I had got them sooner.

P.S. I used to wear contact lenses but due to dry eyes I can't wear them any more.
 
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Well I could try without but don't think I will get far, sure the judges prefer me not to ride into them.
Never been a problem for me, just need them :rolleyes:

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I've never not ridden in glasses. Even did an XC training in mine! Showing classes, dressage competition, jumping lessons, hacking..... Even once fell off and ended up in hospital with a damaged spine (not badly) and my glasses stayed on the whole time. That's one reason to wear a fixed skip on your helmet.
Would consider my contacts for XC competing though. (Would put that on the medical card / tell people. Don't want to end up wearing them for days on end in ITU with no one knowing, worst case scenario.)
My dad has worn glasses for over 60 years so has checked mine are not loose in any way.
 
All "glass" used in spectacles is "shatterproof", so there is no increased danger to you in wearing them while riding: the only restriction really is comfort. The only change I made is that I use a sort of rubber tube, which I bought from y optician, the ends of which slot on over the ends of the frames behind the ears and runs around the back of my neck, so that my spectacles don't fall off accidentally.

However, there are "sports" frames and lenses available nowadays (lightweight, shatterproof frames and lenses) if you really need to wear glasses while riding and your normal spectacles are too heavy. They were originally developed for the mountain-biking fraternity but are common now in the general sports market (some "wrap-around" the side of your face as well, which solves the problem of restricted peripheral vision). It, would, however, involve having to buy an extra pair of spectacles, although the "bog standard" ones aren't overly expensive. Your optician ought to be able to advise.

I personally would be more concerned about being able to see hazards at a reasonable distant so I wouldn't consider riding without correcting my eyesight (although the sight in my left eye is VERY short-sighted), just as I wouldn't drive without wearing my spectacles.
 
Robsonian said:
All "glass" used in spectacles is "shatterproof", so there is no increased danger to you in wearing them while riding: the only restriction really is comfort. The only change I made is that I use a sort of rubber tube, which I bought from y optician, the ends of which slot on over the ends of the frames behind the ears and runs around the back of my neck, so that my spectacles don't fall off accidentally.

However, there are "sports" frames and lenses available nowadays (lightweight, shatterproof frames and lenses) if you really need to wear glasses while riding and your normal spectacles are too heavy. They were originally developed for the mountain-biking fraternity but are common now in the general sports market (some "wrap-around" the side of your face as well, which solves the problem of restricted peripheral vision). It, would, however, involve having to buy an extra pair of spectacles, although the "bog standard" ones aren't overly expensive. Your optician ought to be able to advise.
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I have the sports type as described above but I also have a prescription insert into them. They were expensive but should my prescription alter then the inserts are quite cheap to replace into the frames. This was what swayed me towards buying them. They are very comfortable and secure as I also have the thingy that ties them on to my head. They are very good. I drive in them as well as they are polaroid sunglasses. Excellent, don't know how I managed without them. I got them through my optician, the one we all "should've gone to"
 
I don't very often, as I find that after about 1/2 hour, my ears start to get really sore where the arms of the glasses rest. Must be pressure from my helmet that causes it, but it can get very uncomfortable.
I can also no longer wear lenses due to dry eyes, so tend to go with nothing, I can see enough to be safe and all my friends are now used to being ignored when I'm riding!!
 
It's never occurred to me not to and no one in the myriad of riding schools, shows, freelance instructors, judges, riding buddies and whoever else I've come into contact with when riding has ever commented one way or the other. I'm a bit useless without them, I can't see 2ft in front of me!
I used to wear contacts but kept getting conjunctivitis. The only ones that worked for me were daily disposables but they're too expensive now.
 
I have to ride in contact lenses, pretty blind without! I did used to ride in my glasses in my teens without problem. The only issue was out hacking cantering behind other horses - I needed windscreen wipers!!
 
I have to wear glasses all the time, I have lightweight varifocal lenses in a super light weight flexible rimless frame. They are brilliant, they don't move and stay where they are supposed to, not cheap but exactly what I needed.
 
I ride in glasses or contacts - depends if I can be bothered to put them in!
You should try contacts - Specsavers will give you a weeks worth of daily disposables to try for free and I bet you don't look back! They're fab!
 
I feel so much safer in my glasses. Out hunting I felt my eyes were somewhat protected from fast moving branches :p behind glasses.
 
I'm astounded that some of you go glasses-less!

OP, I'm as blind as a bat. I have competing through my teenage years in gymnastics (incl. flips and somersaults), trampolining (more somersaults) vaulting (hanging upside down from a 17.2) and have ridden for years and years in glasses.

I've been fired face first into jump wings, been dragged at a good canter, been kicked in the head on the way down and all sorts... My glasses are sometimes a funny shape afterwards but have never smashed. :D
 
I'm short sighted (so can't see things from far away) but I wear my glasses 24/7 out of ease. Can't bear things near my eyes so contacts are a no-go.

I never take them off apart from sleeping so I ride with them on too. Never found an issue, although I have sheepishly walked into specsavers with bent frames after falling off a few times :o
 
Im short sighted and have glasses but have never worn them to ride in as my mum told me not to. But I can't see much so when people point out the lovely bird/deer/fox etc I have no chance of spotting it. Bit depressing so today Im going to put them on and hack im them :)
 
I wear my glasses all the time to ride (contacts arent much use because i have an astigmatism which cant be put into contact lenses)- my justification is im not legal to drive without them on so why should i ride!!
I have a pair of sports frames, they werent expensive- free actually from vision express in their 2 for 1 offer last year!!
They dont move anywhere and theyre really light and comfortable :)
 
I used to ride in glasses when a teenager but had a couple of incidents which put me off. Once a twiggy branch got caught in my glasses whilst cantering in woodland and ripped my glasses off and another time I had a fall and my glasses came off and I couldn't see well enough to find them again! So nearly always ride in contacts now.
 
i wouldnt be able to see the horse if i didnt have my glasses on lol! ive ridden and competed in mine all my life and only ever broken 1 pair so i dont worry about it at all. :)
 
Always, always in my glasses, do have a bit of a problem sometimes with rain on them and them steaming up but I cannot ride in my contacts, I find they get really itchy - not sure if its too do with with the dirt and dust getting between them and my eye?
I'd be too frightened to ride without being able to see properly!
 
I wear glasses all the time including when riding, and I ride in all weathers, sometimes if the wind is blowing the wrong way it can be a problem in the rain but otherwise I would rather wear them because otherwise I can't see!
 
I thought that Andrew Nicolson used to wear them when eventing? May be wrong though!
I used to go around half blind but now my helpful optician has set me up with daily disposable contacts which are safe and easy to wear when jumping xc etc.
 
I don't get on with contacts so always wear my glasses - if I don't I get motion sickness even when I'm riding! I used to have a special riding pair that I got super cheap online so I didn't mind if I broke them but I broke them and haven't replaced them yet :o
 
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