People who need glasses...

I'm short sighted, wear glasses all the time but always wear contacts to ride. I use the Focus Dailies as I just prefer the cleaniless of disposables. I do find if I've been riding in a dusty school that I like to get my lens out quite quickly after I get home as my eyes do feel quite tired and dry, but generally the contacts don't cause me a problem. However, I only ever wear lens for sport (horse riding and rowing) and only ever wear them for a few hours at a time and not every day.

I thought initially I'd find it hard to put in/take out contacts, but you'll be amazed how quickly you get use to it and it's not like you're actually touching your eye with your finger when you put them in/take them out! Once they're in (if they're correctly fitted) you won't even notice they're in.

I've tried wearing glasses when riding (when I've suddenly had to sit on something when I haven't been planning to) but don't find them very comfortable at all with a riding hat on!

You might find that once you've got used to wearing contact lenses you end up wearing them a lot more just because of comfort and the vision is better (I have astigmatism so although my eyes are slightly worse with lenses than glasses, I love being able to see completely around me and not just through my glasses lenses)!
 
I used to only wear contact lenses as too vain to do anything else. Started wearing glasses when I was pregnant and kept falling asleep without notice :rolleyes:

It was a million years ago, well, at least thirty (yikes!) that I started wearing contact lenses. Back then there were only hard ones on offer, if I remember right, if one had an astigmatism, which I do have. I wore them for two hours the first day, then about ten hours the next day and went skiing in them :cool::rolleyes:. If dust got in it was absolute blinding agony! Especially if sunny! Brrrr.

Reading this thread has made me decide to get some daily disposable ones. I can put them in after I've been to the gym in the morning during the week :D.

OP - I've worn glasses around horses for the last six years. No problems, other than when I came off and bashed my head the glasses bashed into my nose - everyone thought I'd broken my nose :(, just to add to my woes at the time. I hadn't, but it hurt :rolleyes:. They are a pain when it rains though - I usually end up almost blind as I can't see through the rain collecting on them!

I'd go with contact lenses, if you get on with them, as someone else said, you can have a trial :D. The optician will want to see that you can put them in and take them out okay. But also have a pair of glasses in your bag/in the car, just in case you lose one/get dust behind (though the latter is less likely these days) :D

Let us know how you get on :D
 
I use contacts, I think my prescription's the same as yours. I find them fine, just try not to get hay in your face and things like that. I used to wear glasses all the time at the yard & riding and never really had a problem... except in drizzle! I did fall off on my face once - the glasses were unharmed, but my face was not! The glasses were driven into my eyebrow... blood everywhere. So contacts for me from now on! :rolleyes:
 
I wear my contacts ALL the time, from 7-11 everyday, when I go for my check ups my Optician lies for me on the sheet and says I wear them a max of 8 hours, for 6 days a week :D
Apparently my eyes were the healthiest and clearest they'd seen, so they have no worries about how much I wear them. Both my Opticians have been Horsey, one told me it is easier to judge distance with contact lenses, so good for jumping, and the other said they will help protect my eyes to some extent.
I certainly find my eyes get less irritated in the wind, when clipping etc.
 
I've always worn my glasses when I'm around horses/riding and never had a problem with them.

I'm very short sighted (going on for -10 in each eye) and also have astigmatism and apparently I'm very awkward to fit contact lenses to :rolleyes: I was going to trial some last year but none of my local opticians (including Specsavers etc.) carried appropriate lenses to fit my prescription so would have had to order some in which would have taken a few weeks. Typically they're apparently much more expensive than normal lenses as well.

I feel your pain when it comes to buying glasses though. The frames may be cheap but there's no way I can have anything but the thinnest lenses as I'm now at the point where without thinning they wouldn't even fit in the frames.
 
I used to wear contacts all the time, at equine college and when working with horses. I occaionally got something under them, but not often so didn't had a problem with them.

I hardly wear contacts now, mainly due to laziness (CBA to put them in every morning) but I do always wear them for hunting and competing for the reasons meantioned above - I don't want them driven into my face!

My eyes can be a bit dry and with previous soft lenses I would be able to see less well the longer I had them in. Optician said this was due to the lenses drying out a bit and shrinking which would cause them to change slightly and end up not quite working as they should. I was given Toric (daily) lenses after that as their supposed to be better for drier eyes. Failing that, what about comfort drops?
 
i wear glasses and contacts :) both are fine although when i get hot when i'm riding in glasses i start losing them down my nose which can be a bit annoying as i compensate by dropping my chin so i can see :D

Tend to jump, hack and have lessons in contacts and during the week when i'm lazy and can't be bothered to put my eyes in, i just wear glasses :)

I managed to cut a contact lense in half with my thumbnail whilst it was in my eye once. Had just oiled my saddle and was trying to do the girth up on my rather stubborn beast who insisted on blowing her stomach out....hand slipped and thumbnail went straight into my eye. Had i not been wearing the lense i probably would've been blinded. It was gross! :rolleyes:
 
oh and there are these uber moisturising contacts you can buy now, i think they are johnsons ones, daily ones. I had the monthly ones and struggled with the dryness of them a little, daily ones are much more moist :p
 
Lol I also wear mine much longer than technically meant to. They go in when I wake up and come out just before I turn light out at night!!
 
I wear contacts every day. Just switched from monthlies to dailes as my eyes were getting dry and my optician reckoned the Johnsons Acuvue ones would be better for my eyes as they are more moist. I have never had a problem with muck and dust in my eyes wearing contacts. I refuse to ride in glasses as I worry that they will break if I fall off and my eyes will get damaged
 
I have worn glasses all my life, from 2yrs old! My optician says I should wear them 24/7, but I don't. I mostly need them for driving & computer/tv. I have terrible eyesight & astigmatism, because of this I am only allowed gas-permeable hard contact lenses. Anyways, when I was 16 I got some because I hated wearing glasses. They cost £200, were really difficult to get in and hurt when they were in. This type of contact lens is very painful if something gets underneath like dust etc. I didn't use them for more than a month! lol. I can have laser eye surgery but because of my bad astigmatism it will be expensive and need a specialist surgeon - can't go to the highstreet ones like Optimax etc. So I am back to glasses :)

I get my eyes tested at a good opticians and then take my prescription to Specsavers and buy glasses there. IME Specsavers don't get the prescrition correct, I spent a few years as a child with glasses either too strong or too weak. But they sell cheap glasses, I have two pairs they were £69 2for1! :D One nice designer pair for work and some plastic purple ones for everything else.

If your prescription allows, I'd get a trial of disposable lenses and see how that goes. I know many friends that wear them around horses etc. But otherwise, get yourself to Specsavers and get some bargain specs! :D
 
Firewell said:
Thanks :).
I got mine from Vision express, they seemed pretty good :). :).
Click to expand...

:eek::eek:If there from V.E you will have paid at least double then!!! I work in Optics, ride and wear specs/lenses. I compete/jump in contact lenses but will school/hack in my glasses. I also suffer from dry eye and do not wear lenses full time anymore i wear Johnson & Johnson Acuvue moist 1days, they are the best Ive tried, you need to have a silcon hydrogel lens there slightly more expensive but worth it comfort wise. Or if you do want to wear lenses full time ask about GP lenses, there very small hard lenses, vision is excellent in them however are very uncomfotable at first, but within a few days i was fine with them, they last around 2yrs and cost about £100-200. Ive worn lenses since i was 14, and tried hard lenses a few years back much better than daily/monthly lenses however im really lazy and hated cleaning them, so now just wear daily lenses and specs.
 
I have the same problem! I was wearing contacts the daily high moisture ones for a long time just whilst competing but at the summer shows and especially when staying away at shows my eye would end up in a total mess and after the first day they would be so sore and full of dust that i couldnt see properly the next day! So for the past year ive been competing in my glasses. I was worried like you and a lot of others about coming off and breaking them so i got one of the 2 for one deals and always carry my spare pair with me. Touch wood ive had plenty of falls off youngsters and my glasses are still in one piece! I do keep just one pair for when im round the horses and they really are scratched and looking a bit worse for wear now but they are two years old! I would try contacts first, daily ones and see how you go :)
 
You can get a cheap but respectible pair of specs for about £60, if your optician has concerns about contact lenses why not get a cheap pair of glasses to ride in?

My DH rides in his specs (not sure he'd see the horse without them, never mind a jump) and he doesn't have any problems apart from occasional steaming up.

You do need to get a pair that are small enough so that your hat doesn't press them onto the bridge of your nose.

You can also get special ear pieces that stop your specs falling off, although DH finds his hat keeps his on ok. You can also get special glasses made for sport with the special arms and unbreakable lenses.

Then there are flexible frames.

Try asda for cheap prescription specs, they are pretty good in terms of service and fitting.
 
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I've worn contacts for 25 years, and they have got better as the technology has developed! I now wear high water daily disposables which cost £22/month, which includes free eye checks every year and a sight test every two. The only ones I ever had a real problem with were gas permeable lenses which some dim optician thought were a good ideas despite being told I work in farming and ride horses ie lots of dust!
It's best to give your eyes a break one day a week if you can or only wear the lenses for a couple of hours sometimes, just have to remember to swap to your glasses when you get home.
 
my eyes are -2.75 & -4.5 and i wear both lenses and glasses. i have very dry eyes so with contacts I tend to wear them for 12 hours max. I weare my lenses every day for work office job) and for competing etc however as I have dry eyes I end up wearing glasses at weekends etc and they are fine to ride in. You get the dust etc with lenses but I put mine in after doing the horses in the mornings and then normally take them out when I am back from work. Just have to be careful really. I get more paranoid about my glasses getting knocked or broken to be honest.

I would love to have laser eye surgery but I am going to wait until I am nearer 30 I think to make sure my eyes have settled down. Also a little nervous about it!
 
Ive worn contact lenses for about 8 yrs and not had any problems around horses. If i wear my glasses to ride i find they tend to move around too much.

Would love laser eye surgery but its just too expensive!
 
If your eyes dry out when going XC get a pair of jockey's goggles. Stops things flying into your eyes like dust, pollen, etc and also helps to stop them drying out.

I wear 2 lenses in each eye and would be lost without my goggles. Have work lenses around horse for years, definitely worth a go
 
I used to wear glasses jumping and then changed to contacts. Firstly there are a few things to keep in mind with glasses and horses - the steaming up - go to a local motorbike store and get the anti-fog spray they have for inside helmets, stops all the steaming up. You can get anti shatter glass so that if you do fall off and they break the glasses won't go everywhere and cut up your face so much. Rain and glasses = not so good. Also you if your hat sits quite low on your forehead you will need a narrowish shape to the glass or it will hurt your nose!
Personally I changed to contacts after a couple of nasty falls where the bridge of my nose got really quite damaged by the middle part of the glasses. The contacts made a huge difference to my jumping - I could see a stride going round a corner without having to completely turn my head to face the fence directly head on. I used both the monthly disposable and the daily types and never had any problem with irritation or infection. Specsavers told me that hay etc would cause huge problems and dust irritation would occur, my local (rural) optician said I would be fine as long as I kept good hygene standards and this was what personally I found to be true.
 
GET LASER!!! honestly its amazing, and although yes there is the potential for needing it doing again later in life, its not certain (depends how young you are when you have it done). And as for it being safe, do some research, it is incredibly safe.

Contacts are fine, I worked on an event yard for two years with them with no problems, but after a while, my eyes couldn't tolerate them anymore. I despised my glasses with a passion.
 
I'm an optician so what they've told you about dry eye and cl's is a bit hazy. You can have cls with dry eye, it just means you can't go for the bog standard £8/month lenses! Personally acuvue oasys or air optix are the best bet with dry eye, the material in the daily lenses isn't as good so you'll find you can wear them for 6hours and then feel like you've got sandpaper in your eye! Comfort drops (systane/ hypomellose) and warm compresses on your eyelids can help with the stability of the tear film. In terms of the dust with horses you can always muck out in glasses and then put your lenses in at work/ just before you ride. You'll still need a back up pair of glasses no matter how often you wear your lenses.
Specsavers offers a free trial ( & appointment) for contact lenses, so youve not got anything to loose! Once youve got over the fear of touching your eye they are really easy to insert & remove!
I compete in lenses and wouldnt consider my glasses, rain & glasses is a bit of a no go!
If you need anything just drop me a PM :)
 
i wear contacts every day, monthly disposables. clipping is the only thing that can really upset them. i won't jump without them, can't judge distance properly, not fair on the horse. i'd say it's definitely worth a try, and try various types until you find the ones that suit your eyes best.
 
I used to have Toric contact lenses. They were brilliant and I don't have many tears either. Never had any problems with my eyes. I don't use them much any more because I've reached 'that' age when your eyesight changes and I can't read with them in!!
 
I've worn glasses for years for driving,watching tv etc. I can't see stuff in the distance- can never rembember if that's long or short sighted?!? I've always shied away from contacts as just don't like the idea of them. I've never ridden in glasses as just don't like the idea of that either, used to struggle slightly with markers when doing dressage but have now stopped doing tests for other reasons anyway so solved that problem. I tend to bumble about in flat lessons until I get to the right marker! I don't cross country much & never have any problems when showjumping as just memorise the course & just check it's the right number as I'm approaching.
 
I've had contacts for, um, 30 years. Eek. Because of my particular issues I can't wear soft/disposable and I don't really consider laser worth the risk as it won't give me functional 20/20ish vision anyway so I'd still have to wear glasses. So gas permeable for me.

I will confess it hurts A LOT if I get something in my eye and they can get irritated in bright light, so I wear sunglasses if it's bright/dusty and wear glasses to clip. Mine actually "splint" my eye so I do find the problem is I can't really switch back and forth with glasses for anything that requires depth perception, such as jumping. My last set I have the varied focus arrangement (whatever it's called here) and really liked it, but was told by the optometrist here it's not preferred in the UK - have since found out that's not true so will be looking for someone new who can do that for me again next time.

None of which is pertinent to the OP, but mine are a massive faff compared to the disposable ones and I would STILL count them as an improvement over glasses for horsey stuff! I have had to go back to glasses a couple of times for short periods over the years and have never felt inclined to stay with them, despite the fact it would be cheaper and easier.
 
I have worn contact lenses for years (monthly disposable ones) the only thing which can irritate them is clipping whilst wearing them. You will soon get used to putting them in and will never know they are there. I only wear my glasses in the evenings to give my eyes a rest as they can get a bit dry if you wear lenses for a long while. Was thinking about getting them lasered but have heard stories about your vision gradually deteriorating back so have decided to leave them be!!
 
I wear contacts - my biggest issue was when I developed an allergy to the solution that I was prescribed. A 2 week break from lenses, and a new solution solved that!

I hate wearing my glasses around horses (and at work - I work in an environment where they are at risk of being grabbed, or damaging me, should someone attempt to hit me!) so I wear my contacts alot. I feel much more vulnerable with glasses on.
 
I am very short sighted, and have worn contacts for 18yrs - I can't actually remember the last time I put my glasses on (they give me migraines). I wear them all day every day, and am always outdoors getting smoke, dust, hay etc in my face. I used to have monthlies, have had dailies for the last 8-10 yrs I think, but the thing I noticed most about them was that it STOPPED me from being irritated by dust, smoke etc - I was the only one at camp who could tend the fire without crying, I can peel onions without crying, I can do hay without crying. I have a lot of allergies to dust, hay, animals etc but I am much much worse without the lenses. Sometimes my eyes are a bit dry when I am tired, but I think that can be expected and isn't a problem, I do have to be careful going in open top cars or riding or carriage driving at speed in wind because they occasionally threaten to disappear, but otherwise I feel they offer me more protection that not. My eyes are so used to the now I actually struggle more with dry eyes when I don't have the lenses in. My optician also always comments on how healthy my eyes are.

I won't have laser because it wouldn't correct enough to be worth it, but last year some new lenses became available in the UK after years of development, which get inserted into you eye. They are like a contact lenses but are cared for by your own eye, and can be replaced at a later date if your prescription changes. I am saving up for that - currently about £1000 per eye, but I'm sure it will come down in a few years the same way laser did. It is supposed to be safe than laser too, as it doesn't actually scar the eye to create a result, and the op is like microscopic keyhole surgery.
 
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