Who wears glasses and rides...?

[4leggedfurries]

Sorry am bored in work and cant do much cos of my poorly thumb after my fall, but as above...

I wear glasses but find them very awkward to wear under my hat when riding. Not so bad when i'm schooling as i'm in the field but when out hacking can be quite interesting cos i dont always see things till the last second. And before anyone says contacts, nooooooooooooo loathe the things, cant be doing with sticking things in my eyes, took at least half a dozen people to put eye drops in once when my eye lid swelled up once! Are there any others out there that cant wear their glasses when riding and what do you do to cope...?

 

[Ezme]

Funnilly enough I just went to the shop and bought H&H and the front cover is andrew nicholson at bramham on the XC wearing his glasses so there must be a way of doing it!

 

[trundle]

I wear contacts for riding, as I cannot manage with my glasses under my hat (they bang on the side!). Maybe a slightly different shape of frame would help you. I would also want memory frames and plastic lenses, esp if i was going to be doing a lot of jumping and fast hacking.

 

[ester]

I tend not to wear mine, however am wondering if it would be better for me to see XC jumps before I jump them. I do wear them if someone is calling a drsg test for me or I can't see the letters. I have a really comfy pair which have more of a sports wrap round soft rubber arms (wish I bought two pairs of these rather than my others. They are also very lightweight.

http://www.specsavers.co.uk/glasses/petite-glasses/quiksilver-teen-2

I have a small head so can only wear teen ones but a male friend has adult size versions

 

[4leggedfurries]

Ezme, yes i know it can be done, the girl who has her horse with me both her and her mom ride with theirs on, i just find it awkward. I am overdue for my eye test and need new frames so i could always take my hat to specsavers and see what fits underneath. Get a good pair for everyday and the free second pair for riding. Though i will probably look completly daft trying them on with my hat!!!

 

[MardyMare]

Mine are plastic and quite flexible and have not had a problem yet. I do also have contacts but I am not very good at using them so keep them for shows (most of the time).

 

[4leggedfurries]

[ QUOTE ]
I tend not to wear mine, however am wondering if it would be better for me to see XC jumps before I jump them. I do wear them if someone is calling a drsg test for me or I can't see the letters.

I have a small head so can only wear teen ones but a male friend has adult size versions

[/ QUOTE ]

Would be an advantage to wear whilst jumping i think!! lol but i have the opposite problem, i have quite a wide face, so small narrow ones look silly on me as they only cover half of my eyes and make me look like an old school matron with them perched on the end of my nose...

 

[Piccy]

I have the narrow frame bendy metal type glasses for riding in and find these work rather well, cant ride in my every day glasses very well at all..

 

[ester]

well am not sure, jumps might seem bigger then! I only wear mine for driving and power point presentations normally (have very small lounge so telly not a problem) but they have steadily gotten worse so think I might wear them riding a bit more if I need to see what I'm doing.

Maybe not that pair then but the flexi rubber arms are great, I def couldn't wear my other pair. Have tried contacts but cant be bothered with them really.

 

[CrazyDog]

You may just need to try a different hat! I have tried on a few that I felt put some pressure on my ears (and earpieces of my glasses) which was very uncomfortable. The helmets I wear (CO GR8/Wellington Pro) aren't so deep in the crown and are very comfortable. I did have to buy a skull cap that was a bit deep for me and was happy when I had a fall and had to replace it!

If you don't have a particularly 'tall' head, you might find something like this works for you as well.

 

[ironhorse]

Deffo talk to the optician about this - there's all sorts of sports frames and sports straps you can try. Some of the frames have flexible sides so should be much more comfortable.
I wear daily contacts now, but used to wear monthly ones and at one very hot side saddle champs my lenses were so dry they were moving off my eyeball - result, I couldn't see!
Reluctantly resorted to my glasses for the jumping, secured by a special elastic strap. Not over comfortable but fine for the duration of the class.
I'm much too short sighted to not wear either glasses or contacts, but a friend of mine shows without hers - we always have to remember that she's not being rude when she ignores us, just can't see who we are

 

[kal40]

I have this problem too but after getting whacked in the face leaving a scar, I decided that I had to go with contacts for riding.

Once you get used to putting them in, its not really that bad. My optician is really good and spent time with me giving me tips on putting them it and taking them out.

I don't wear them all the time, in fact I prefer my glasses I just think that its safer to go with the contacts for riding.

 

[*hic*]

I wear my glasses under my hat for riding, don't have a problem with it, but perhaps that's just compared to the awful faff of trying to get glasses on after putting on a full face motorcycle crash hat.

 

[The Bouncing Bog Trotter]

I've done XC, dressage, show jumped, shown and hacked with my glasses on - wouldn't be able to see past his ears without them. I took my hat into the opticians and tried on glasses with my hat and got a few odd looks. They aren't special sports glasses.

I now wear the extended wear contact lenses - you put them in and forget about them for a month so no daily eye prodding needed. Took a bit of gettign used to but now love them.

 

[laura_nash]

I've always worn my glasses riding (also can't be doing with contacts and I can't see a thing without them). I think the key thing is the hat - some styles just don't work. You need to make sure it doesn't touch, especially that it isn't going to bang on the top of the glasses in a fall as I've heard people can damage their nose from that happening.

When I've had a fall I've never had a problem with the glasses hurting me - the main issue is them getting damaged (meaning I have to ride home without being able to see a thing).

 

[rara007]

I do- I can;t have contacts, and have tried taking them off, and crashed too many times. TBH I know no difference, and don't find it a problem. Some styles of hat/glasses are very uncomfortable together, pushing on ears, or nose, but unless its really raining or they get steamed up its not a problem (And even then less of a problem than being blind

) The modern sports ends for glasses that don't curve down don't work with most skull caps, and many skull caps push them onto your nose...

 

[4leggedfurries]

Hmmm never thought of trying different hats, *wonders off for a mo to see what shops are open on Saturday to find some to try on* quite like the sound of the CO my current hats do sit quite deep on my head so a low profile one sounds good, might be easier than trying to find glasses to go with my hat...

 

[helly86]

I have to wear mine when i ride, i'm blind without them. I use an elastic strap (£2.50 from specsavers) when i jump, or they fall down my nose and i can't see the jump, let alone the stride! I have a champion skull cap and my specs dont bang on it at all!!!

 

[NikkiF]

How strange, I've never had a problem with glasses and hats, must just have been very lucky!

This does remind me tho, of being asked the day before I was doing a hunter trial, didn't I think it was dangerous to ride with my glasses on?? Er no, much more dangerous if I couldn't see the fences

 

[Dubsie]

I've got the sort of glasses that you can bend, sit on, flex, twist and they just pop back into shape. They are very light weight. They have quite thin arms, and just seem to fit OK under riding hat, cycle helmet, crash helmet.

 

[BFG]

The only problem i have with riding in my glasses is that they sometimes steam up when i get hot.

Must mean i am doing more work that the horse, must address that!!!!

 

[RubysGold]

HAHA, you completely remind me of myself.
I refuse to put contacts anywhere near my eye, and tell my friends to warn me before they put theirs in so I dont see.
At college I used to take my glasses off before getting on the horse, and put them back on when I got off. I was always fine as I could see the shapes of other horses etc, just couldn't see the letters. Then a couple of times I completely forgot to take them off, and now I never take them off to ride

They have never felt uncomfy under my hat, I was just scared of them falling off and breaking.
Nickie

 

[nicelittle]

Hi, I wear glasses and have had not trouble with them under a hat. Not that I have an option though really, can't do contacts (stygmatism ?sp?) and cant see my hand in front of my face without them! Though I have been known to remove them in very heavy rain, and just trust the horse!

 

[sallyellis]

I dont need corrective glasses but I do wear sunglasses whilst riding as have blue eyes and find the sun quite strong, also have hayfever so I bought a pair of flexi wrap arounds from a company at the Bath & West show they look like Oakleys but arent - find they fit under my hat brilliantly and are comfy, best of all they come with 2 spare sets of lenses for dusk and dull days etc.

 

[Seahorse]

I wear glasses all the time, but never wear them for riding as they feel uncomfortable under my hat. But I was getting a bit fed up at not being able to see very well so I started wearing them. It was very strange!!! Even Axels neck looked different, it seemed longer and thinner. I just couldn't get used to it so took them off and everything returned to 'normal'

 

[4leggedfurries]

I'm glad i'm not alone in feeling uncomfortable wearing them and also that im not random for not wearing contacts, everyone around me is like, their fine dont worry about it, but they completely freak me out, cant have anything that goes in my eyes, ears or up my nose... blerghghg lol

 

[SnowPhony]

I've never really given it a second thought. I ride all the time in my glasses. I am pretty blind without them. Never had a problem wearing them whilst riding, and last year when I had my nasty accident and was chucked onto the road my glasses were just about the only part unscathed!

I think if your glasses and hat fit properly then it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[merlinsquest]

I do and hate every minute of it

No problem actually wearing them.... I just look a bit special needs in them

 

[Happy2Hack]

I've always ridden whilst wearing my glasses and never had a problem.
I'm another who won't use contacts - can't be doing with putting things in my eyes!

 

[4leggedfurries]

[ QUOTE ]
I do and hate every minute of it

No problem actually wearing them.... I just look a bit special needs in them

[/ QUOTE ]